Our trip to Ulm was a big success and the boys enjoyed more than they thought they would. I know you can’t see much of my outfit here but this was what I wore a lot since it was colder there. I wore my fleece and my raincoat most of the days so no good shots of my outfits are available.
I wore my scarves often and they were a pop of color on top of my jackets. My boys wore their sweatpants everyday and they seemed to be very comfortable all the time. I only took my boots and that worked too. Granted some days I wished I had tennis shoes too but at least I felt like I fit in the whole time.
All and all I did very well with our packing and I only had one set of clothes left at the end which was just perfect. (In case we got stuck on the way back, we had a change of clothes.)
I know my blog is for fashion and I will get to the clothes part of this post soon enough… But first I wold like to mention a few tips for packing for a trip with your kids overseas.
Well, I am going to Germany with both my boys. It is for a full week and my oldest is a big kid so his clothes and shoes take a lot of room. At first I was hoping to just take 3 carry-on bags and our backpacks but as I kept checking the weather we will have while there, this idea quickly became just a dream. We are also visiting family while there so there are the gifts that we are taking that need room in the bag.
As far as my clothes went, I started with the shoes, after all, it will be raining and possibly snowing for most of the time we are visiting. So I decided on short boots that are comfortable for walking around, yet ok to get wet. With that in mind, I started choosing my clothes. At first I had considered taking all casual clothes such as sweat pants and leggings, then I talked to a friend who has gone to Germany often and she shared with me that Germans tend to dress a little more dressy and that I should probably not wear sweat pants. With this new knowledge I started over with my outfits.
What I have in my bag now are jeans and cute tops that go with the boots I am taking. I am also taking some scarves to help dress up some of the outfits if necessary. I hope I got this right but I can let you know when I get back from the trip.
The packing did not end there though, now I needed to have enough outfits for my boys. The younger one was fairly easy since his clothes don’t take nearly as much room. I had to do some shopping to make sure their clothes looked nice and had no stains or rips. This is where things got more complicated. My oldest is 6 feet tall already and only likes to wear sweat pants. One would think this should be easy, but I have to tell you, IT IS NOT! We visited many stores and finally found enough pants to take on the trip. The ones he had at home were all too short, stained or had seen better days. I think we went to at least 5 different stores to find enough pants. It is really hard to find sweat pants that are long enough for him…UGH…
After all the shopping for their clothes was done, it was time to decide on what souvenirs to take. Since I like to make crafts, I decided to make a quilt for them, then I found Harry Potter fabric and she loves Harry Potter so I made a second blanket and some bags with the fabrics I found. Well, as you can imagine blankets and quilts take up a lot of room.
Earbuds bag
(The picture above and below is of the earbud bag I made too. I thought it turned out really cute and it is the perfect size to through in any purse or backpack and no danger of your earbuds get ruined.)
Will all these things we ended up with 3 carry-ons, 1 medium size bag and 3 backpacks. The part I did not tell you is that 2 of the backpacks are full of chips since my youngest is an extreme picky eater and only eats specific things, he is even picky about the brand of the chips. On the picture above you can see that we have a blanket hanging from the backpack. This is a precaution because my son has some anxiety issues and I am hoping this will help throughout the trip, it is something familiar and cuddly that will keep him calm. (He also has a stuffed animal monkey in his bag.) Then you add the electronics each wants to have and books to read in the plane and airport and ‘voilá’ we have 7 pieces of luggage total…. It seems a bit insane for a 7 day trip but I believe that considering it is still cold and we need winter clothes it might be warranted.
Stay tuned for how correct I was in the choice of my clothes for this trip…
Just this weekend I had a conversation with a friend about getting acrylic nails or not. Well, I hesitated for a long time but once I started I was hooked. There are several reasons why I like them, but one of the main ones is that they last for a long time. I told my friend that I love getting them because they make me feel good about myself. While I cannot change the fact I have a big belly (at least not quickly anyway), I can have pretty nails and toe nails.
I started getting acrylic nails about 3 years ago and I absolutely love having nice nails all the time. The only thing that happens is when they grow out you can tell they have grown but other than that they look pretty for a good 3-4 weeks. I also started getting my toe nails done and weirdly enough I feel so much better with them painted and nicely done.
I know they can get a bit expensive, but for me it is well worth it since life is too short to not feel good about myself. I know it sounds shallow but it is what it is, I like to look at my hands and see they look pretty. Another great advantage is that when I travel I don’t need to worry about my nails because they will look nice the whole time I am away.
Now, this week they are amazing and I cannot tell you how many compliments I have received over the weekend alone. Every single place I went I had people comment on them and ask where I got them done. Don’t they look amazing??? I am so lucky I have met Jenny Vo and she does such a wonderful job. I cannot wait to try more colors using the ombré effect…. The possibilities are endless…
So, all I can say is that if you can afford them get them done, if not, at the very least get your nails nicely painted regularly so they look nice too and you can feel good.
Today I will talk about the switch I do at least twice a year. What I mean is the switch in my closet. I, obviously, have too many clothes and we live in a small apartment so when the seasons change I need to change my closet. My lovely husband has built shelves in the garage so we can store my clothes in plastic totes and they stay safe in their “off” season.
One of the best parts about doing this regularly is that it gives me the opportunity to get rid of the clothes I don’t wear anymore or that I did not wear all season long. I also try on a lot of the clothes that were put away to make sure they still fit me and still look ok to wear. This way I refresh my closet often and don’t keep things that don’t need to be kept. I am somewhat of a pack rat when it comes to my clothes, shoes and jewelry. I will be honest, I have a hard time getting rid of stuff but I have been making progress with this.
Anyway, the time has come for me to change my closet to look more like a spring closet. Of course, I could technically have spring, summer, fall and winter closets but since Portland, seasons blend a bit, I usually do spring/summer and fall/winter. What I have found is that if I wait too long to change out the clothes, I end up buying clothes for the coming season that I probably don’t need. Chances are I already have similar ones, so the sooner I change things out the cheaper it becomes.
Another great thing about changing your closet is that you feel like you have new clothes every season and it is a new beginning every few months. Also, the sense of cleaning and giving are great. I give away a lot of the clothes that don’t make the cut. Furthermore, my dad always says it is good to open up room for new and better things so it is a win all around. It does take a full afternoon sometimes but at the end the feeling of accomplishment is the best! When I put clothes away I try putting them by groupings of kinds of clothes, like exercise clothes go together, light long sleeve shirts, heavier sweaters, etc.
Anyway, if you are like me and have a lot of clothes, give it a try and swap out your clothes based on the seasons. It is GREAT!!!
I just would like to share my latest experience with all of you. Last week I went to a conference for teachers and for some reason I thought it would be a more casual environment. Since it was in New Mexico and the weather was much nicer, I decided to take my spring clothes out. As I was packing the bag I made sure I had comfortable shoes since I wasn’t sure how much walking I would have to do there. From the shoes I decided the clothes. To be very honest I repacked the bag a few times as the weather predictions changed throughout the weeks prior to the conference. (Yes, I am one of those crazy OCD people who pack their bags weeks in advance…)
I had to present at the conference and the first outfit I had chosen was going to be a semi professional outfit but since the weather was predicted to be nice, warm and sunny, I decided to change the outfit and chose a much more casual one. Well, when I arrived at the convention center in Albuquerque I immediately felt underdressed, many of the teachers and presenters were wearing business dresses and suits. I, on the other hand, had casual pants with tanks and kimonos. I felt very comfortable but very out of place. I am not sure why I made the decisions I made since usually I have a pretty good idea of how to dress for any occasion. It could be a matter of local culture since I did notice the people from the East coast seemed to be more business dressed and to be honest I think here in the northwest we tend to be a bit more casual.
Who knows what the real reason is and how it really works, I just have to say that some conferences are very casual and others are more formal. I do have another conference coming up in April and now I have to decide what I will take….
I don’t have pictures of my outfits but I will share one of the pictures from the trip with you here.
In the video above I show how to tie two different kinds of scarves in 6 different ways total. I just wanted to say that the silver dragonfly I use is actually a hair clip that can be used with scarves and the elastic I showed with one of the ways, I made it myself. It is just jewelry elastic and some beads put together. I have actually made several in different colors so I could mix and match.
I only showed the ones I did because they seem to be less common than others. Let me know if you would like to see more and I can work on another video.
Today I decided to talk about wearing scarves…. The ones you see above are not even a third of the ones I have. One could say I am obsessed with scarves, shoes and jewelry since I have so many of all of them. I can’t say that I am obsessed with scarves; however, I do love wearing them because they help hide my belly (which I am very self-conscious about) and they bring color to plain outfits.
I have scarves of every color, and every style. I try using them in all different ways but more recently I am really into the long ones that just hang in front of me. The longer the better, but they are more difficult to find that is for sure. The infinity scarves are cute but depending on the outfit I am wearing they can be too much around my neck so I wear them with only one loop and hanging down in the front.
For traveling scarves are great too. You can pack all plain white or black tops with different bottoms and each day have a different scarf. They take less room in the bag and bring a pop of color to every outfit. I also like the pictures of myself wearing scarves better than the ones I am not.
In the winter, scarves are nice to help keep you warm and stylish. In the summer, you would need some lighter scarves and maybe ones that just hang down in the front so that it is not so hot. Spring is a great time for the pastel color scarves, there are so many cute ones it is hard to not buy them all… And in the fall scarves can bring some interest to a plain brown outfit.
I am working on putting together a video of how to tie the different scarves, so come back soon to check it out.
As I sit here watching yet another Hallmark Channel movie, I got to thinking that there is one interesting tradition Americans tend to have that we didn’t in Brazil. In the US people tend to dress with the colors of the holiday. I started thinking about this because on the movie the girls are shopping for special red dresses for their dates on Valentine’s Day. At Christmas time, red is around again and some green to go with it. Every store you go to you see the prominent colors of the holiday of that specific season.
Easter time is the pastel color time, St. Patrick’s day is green all around, 4th of July is red and blue, Halloween is orange and black everywhere and Thanksgiving is the well known fall colors, orange, browns, and dark greens. It is always so interesting to see people dressing according to the season, I never saw that growing up. In Brazil we did not dress according to holidays. Also, because our seasons are opposite of here, Easter would not really be pastel colors and more like fall colors. Christmas is so hot that I think we only worried about wearing comfortable, light weight clothes. The only holiday we wear a special color is New Year’s Eve because of the superstitions surrounding it. That night most people wear white.
With all that being said, I have to say that I see the appeal, and I do like seeing everyone in reds and pinks. So, if you have a special date this Valentine’s Day, look through your closet for that perfect red or pink outfit. Also, what I have done in the past was wear black and use a cute red or pink scarf. This way your pop of color goes with the holiday theme. I don’t own a lot of red clothes (even though it was my grandma’s favorite color), so the scarves work, I even have some that have red and pink.
As I sit here drinking my tea, I am trying to come up with what I should write about this week. So here it goes…
As much as I love having new clothes and I am a true fashionista, it can certainly hurt our pockets, especially if we want to have what is coming out new in the market. I usually wait until the season is well on its way so I can find the stuff on sale, but sometimes you just can’t resist it. Last week I wrote about the Plus Size event at Maurices and I did end up buying the new clothes from the new line. The good part was that I had many rewards and discounts that helped make things affordable and that is usually what I do. I always have coupons and specials so I can buy things. I hardly ever buy things on regular price. I even feel guilty if I were to buy things in regular price. Everything eventually goes on sale so it is just a matter of time.
We usually can save money on staying in on the weekends. We are not big on going out much at night anyway so very seldom we go to a bar or something of the sort on Saturday nights. This certainly helps with our budget. We also don’t drink much alcohol so going out is usually cheaper for us anyway. So today we went out a bit in the afternoon with the kids, I did buy some stuff even though I shouldn’t have and the best part was that in the morning we went to a park and I got to bike for just a little over 8 miles and that is a great start after a couple of years not riding. The boys got to walk around outside and spent at least a couple of hours away from their electronics. Successful day overall…
Sorry today wasn’t as exciting but I thought I would just share a regular Saturday in our house and add a bit about saving money.
Another great piece was the Kimono I was able to get. It is so cute and I am so excited to wear it this summer in one of my trips. I love it because I can wear them over my tank tops and I don’t need to feel so self-conscious about how tight things are on my body.
Another big thing this spring is the plaids. I saw a lot of cute plaid shirts. Since I love yellow I got this one. It has a cute detail on the shoulder and It looks great with jeans.
PlaidsPlaid and YellowPlaid shirt and jeans.
Take a look at the party feel of today and stay tuned because they plan on having these parties more often now. If you have not checked Maurices out in the past, it is totally worth the time and the Spring collection is so cute.
SignsJeansSunglassesShirtsPink and White
These graphic shirts have some very clever sayings. One was cuter than the other…
Graphic shirts
Wifi shirtCoffee
Thank you for reading and come back to see what I am up to… New posts every week.
