My Closet: Argyle Cardigans

I love, love, love cardigans! So much, in fact, that when I conceived of this post, I thought I would just take a picture of myself in each of the cardigans in my closet for you. So, I opened my closet, pulled out all my cardigans, and counted them. You know how many I have?! 45!! 45 flippin' cardigans! Really?! Hoard much? Haha... So, I scrapped my initial idea and decided I'd cut them down into categories. The first category I will showcase will be the myriad of Argyle ones I've accumulated.

A little back story: A year ago, there wasn't one single argyle item in my closet. Not one. I liked argyle. I thought (and still think) that it can really make you look smart and sophisticated whilst wearing it. My husband's Aunt has worn a lot of argyle items over the time that I've known her and it's always drawn my eye. She always looks so put together when I see her in argyle (and in other clothes, to be fair). I just never bought anything argyle.

I can feel you asking me why I didn't jump on the bandwagon years ago. You need to know, don't you? It's because I'm cheap. I could probably afford to get everything on my wish list right this second, but I'd rather drag it out and wait for the best deal. It was about this time last year that I found a few thrift stores in my area and my mom (who also loves a good deal) and I made visiting them a part of our weekly routine (more on that later!!). I always find something cute to come home with, including my argyle sweaters and cardigans. So, without further ado!

You can't tell but there are sparkles in the thread and buttons

I'm starting with the one I love the most. I wore this to a family party last year but my unloving husband did not snap one single picture of me in it. Oh well, I lived. Anyway, it might be a boring brown/tan color scheme, but there's silver sparkly thread running through it and the "buttons" are little jewels. In person, it looks really dressy and very classy.

I'm still very unsure of the most flattering way to stand.

I love the 3/4 length sleeve on this one. And the color scheme adds to the "Spring" feel with the light blue and Navy (although you can't tell from my sucky picture). I think having a lot of white and lightness in it makes it feel fresh. It would look WAY better with khaki or white pants, but I was too lazy to change into them.

I also need to figure out the lighting. I look like Rocky!

When I bought this one, secondhand, it was adorned with beads in the argyle pattern on the chest and wrist area. Too bad it was coming apart. I spent a good half hour pulling all the thread and beads off without totally hacking the material. I was worried it would look dumb, but I am actually pleased with how it turned out.

This one is another sparkly threaded one. And the material is REALLY heavy!

I've also had the chance to wear this to a family party. I styled it much differently, with different jewelry and shoes. I felt really great in it, but the sweater material is so heavy that it's only comfortable if I wear the sleeves pushed up. Luckily, it doesn't look bad that way.

I bought this several months ago and my mom just bought the same one a few weeks back!

This picture is terrible for seeing details. Next time, I'll take some close up shots to go along with everything. It's obviously a slow learning process. The sweater itself is that light pink color, but there are orange, sky blue, and fuchsia threaded diamonds/argyle pattern that run all around the front. It's not too gorgeous in pictures, but it looks very airy in real life.

Why does my nose look broken?! It usually looks WAY better than this!

I didn't realize how good this cardigan looked on me until I saw myself in this picture (minus the weird lighting on my nose obviously!). This cardigan does not fall into step with the rest of my wardrobe. I love the navy coloring, but the greens range from hunter to seemingly fluorescent. I already don't wear a lot of green and I definitely never wear bright green, so I'm surprised I bought this to begin with. And now I can't wait to wear it!

So, those are all my lovely argyle cardigans. I tried to keep the rest of my outfit pretty simple so I could showcase the cardigans themselves, but I swear, I know how to put an outfit together. I'll get more into it when I learn to take better pictures! Oh, and you know how I told you I bought all these from the thrift store?! Well, none of them cost me more than $2.25 while most of them only cost $0.50! Can you believe that? And most of them originally came from Target (They're Merona brand), so they're a really nice quality.  I'm not sure how often I'll post outfit pictures, but I loved doing it this time and hope to do it again really soon! Hope you enjoyed it!

Hey, here's a bonus!! My mom posed for an argyle cardigan picture, too!

She gets a much better background in her picture. I'm so jealous!

Jill Can Cook: Macaroni & Cheese

My husband, Joe, had the day off from work today. It was a rare occasion in that we didn't have some type of obligation to keep us busy today, so we ran some errands, including grocery shopping, and hung around watching football all day.

Knowing that we'd have this lazy day without any real plans, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try out a new recipe. I chose to make Macaroni and Cheese because the whole family enjoys it and I've never so much as attempted to make it from scratch. I found a recipe on Pinterest, and tweaked it according to what reviewers said they did to make it more awesome.

Here is my version of the recipe:

Jill's Macaroni & Cheese!

Prep: 30 mins. Cook: 30 mins.

The ingredients on my countertop, waiting to become our lovely dinner. I totally forgot to use the Paprika! Oops!

• 8 ounces of Elbow Macaroni
• 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella
• 1 Cup Shredded 4 Cheese Pizza Cheese
• 1 Cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar
• 3 Cups Milk
• 3 Pieces Cooked Bacon
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1/2 Sleeve Crushed Ritz Crackers
• Pinch of Salt
• Pinch Pepper                    

Directions

1. Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.
2. Cook bacon until crispy in a pan. Set aside.
3. In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is thick. Put macaroni in large baking dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Add in bacon, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
4. Sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers over the top
5. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Serve.

I had an easy enough time following directions. The smell of the bacon cooking on the stovetop made my husband keep questioning me, "Is it done yet? When will it be ready?!" He loves it when I cook, which is infrequent as he is the better cook in our house. I boiled the pasta, put it in our baking dish and when it was time to pour the cheese sauce over the top, I called him into the kitchen to snap a few pictures.

Me and my double chin pouring the cheese/bacon mixture over the pasta.
 

 After mixing it all together, I grabbed the Ritz crackers (I ate a couple first, just to make sure they weren't stale, even though I had just opened the pack!) to sprinkle over the top.

Sprinkling crackers like a boss!

Now the whole thing was ready to put in the oven to finish cooking.

Look at me! I'm a model!!

The wait was killing us! I didn't start cooking until almost 7pm, so at this point, everyone in the house was starving! Good thing we bought a precooked chicken roaster at the store to serve with it. We didn't feel like waiting another 3 hours for dinner. In fact, by the time it was all ready, it was close to 8pm, so we all ate on the couch in the living room (we're super classy, in case you couldn't tell!).

It's fall, so we served dinner with some seasonal pumpkin beer. Well, Joe, my husband had beer. The rest of us had water.

Mitchell loved it so much that he couldn't even keep his pants on!

Quinn even took a break from devouring dinner to pose for a picture! Smiles all around!

Joe loved it, too. He ended up packing up the leftovers and taking them to work the next day. He called after lunch to tell me that it reheated really well. Me, on the other hand, was not as pleased as everyone else. I think I'm coming down with something, so maybe my taste buds are a little off. I might have to make it again when the common cold isn't kicking my butt. And the next time I make it, I think I'll add some onion powder or something, just to add some more dimension to it.

I would recommend this recipe, considering it was a huge hit as far as my family was concerned. Plus it was really easy to make. It did make a lot of messy dishes, but that's what dishwashers are for.

Me, relaxing with my cats, after all the full bellied kids went to bed.

Family Story: Memere and the Mole.

This story starts about a year ago and is all completely true. Here we go:

I noticed that my fingernails were starting to lift off from my fingertips and the skin on my fingertips started peeling away and leaving big scabs. It started to hurt to touch things. None of the few over-the-counter creams/lotions helped. Neither did limiting what I did with my hands.

So, I made an appointment with my regular doctor. She had no clue what was wrong with me and referred me to a dermatologist, who didn't have an openeing for another 5 and 1/2 months! Believe me, this sucked.

Luckily, by the time the appointment finally rolled around, my fingers were in better shape, although not entirely cleared up. My prognosis: Psoriasis. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do and I'd have to just deal with it. Since I'd waited so long for an appointment and she was pretty much telling me I waited for nothing, I decided I better make this worthwhile. "Well, since I'm here, can I get some moles removed?" I asked. I was delighted when she said, "Yes." OK, that was all the boring stuff that you needed to know so that we could get to the REAL story!

I had two moles on my chest that were bothersome, one on my torso that was ugly, and a darkened freckle on my upper arm that was a little worrisome. She seemed the most concerned about the darkened freckle on my arm and decided that that one would get dealt with first (along with the torso mole). She cut those babies right off, gave me some bandaids, Sent them out for testing, told me she'd call if there were any problems and sent me on my way.

The Words Mitchell Can Say.

Everyone I know says that boys reach physical milestones first while girls reach milestones, like talking, first. I googled it and the few websites I looked at said the same thing. My kids fit that stereotype pretty well.

 

Quinn with her free sample of "Orange Julius" from Dairy Queen. She loved it!

 

 

Quinn, although technically on time as far as physical milestones were concerned, was on the later side of hitting them. She sat unassisted at around 7 months old. She started crawling at 10 months old. She started walking a week after her first birthday, but it wasn't her preferred mode of mobility for another 6 weeks or so.

Mitchell, on the other hand, sat up unassisted at 3 months old. He started crawling at 7 months old and he started walking, much to my chagrin, at 9 and a half months old. He totally nailed every milestone WAY earlier than what I was expecting.

 

Daddy sharing some of his pumpkin blizzard with an enthusiastic Mitchell.

 

 

This could be chalked up to the fact that Quinn was born exactly 4 weeks before her due date, putting her a month behind any of those milestones just because of her "preemie" status. Mitchell was born a mere 6 days before his due date, making him "just about on time." It could also be because Quinn was our first child, so maybe we didn't push her that hard. Maybe the fact that I worked while Quinn was a baby (and she was in daycare for about 6 months), but stayed home with the kids when Mitchell was born, played a part, too. But I think the biggest contributing factor is their gender. Way to perpetuate the stereotype, children!



Me, with my chocolate turtle blizzard, while Quinn nurses her "Orange Julius." We love ice cream for dinner on a rainy day!

 

That sums up their physical attributes. As far as the point of my blog post, their skills with the English language, Quinn is leaps and bounds ahead of Mitchell. According to her baby book (that I diligently filled out), Quinn could say 60 words at 18 months old. 10 of those words were multi-syllable words. Now at 3 and a half years old, she knows a ton of words. She can have meaningful conversations with just about anyone and they'll know exactly what she's saying. She tells me stories that she makes up every night before bed. She loves talking.

 

 Mitchell, at 18 months old, knows about 10 words. Of those 10 words, he can say a couple on his own but most of them need prompting from me. Anyone listening would need me to translate what he's saying. He's just not as interested in talking as he is in getting around. This is what the people around me tell me and what those googled websites said, too, so it should be no surprise that Mitchell, in fact is more physical and less talkative, while Quinn is the polar opposite.

He's so dang proud of himself! Lol.

 

I knew having two kids would be fun. I knew they'd be their own people, but I wondered how different they would be, especially since they're different genders. I am amazed at the differences so far. It makes my life really exciting because, so far, everything has been different.

 

 

 

My First Really Boring Blog Post!

Ok, I'm not exactly sure where to start. I don't want to start at the beginning of my life, my marriage, or when I became a mom. I don't feel like rehashing it all and telling the story of "me" in chronological order. That would be pretty boring (for me as well as you). So, I guess I'll just start with my life right now. I'll tell you the rest on a "need to know" basis, deal?

So, I told you that I have a couple of kids. A girl, Quinn, who is 3 and a half years old. She's a living doll. A very talkative one! I also have a son, Mitchell, who is a year and a half old. He's a freakin' handful, let me just say! 

In honor of their "half year birthdays" I took some pictures of them. Let me start by saying that I'm not a weirdo that celebrates "half year birthdays." It's not like  we have a party, cake, or presents. It's just that I love any excuse to use what little picture-taking skills I have in order to show off my kids. I love my kids. I love to take pictures. People like to have updated pictures of the kids. It's a win-win. Everyone's happy. Well, maybe except the kids who, as they get older, seem to have a love/hate relationship with being behind the camera.

So here are a couple of the better pictures.



 

So, that's Quinn. She knows to smile for the camera but her smile can come off as a little fake. This one's not too terrible, but of the 30 or so pictures I took of her in our backyard, there were only a few that I could say that about. She really does enjoy dressing up, wearing cute clothes, bows in her hair, and (don't tell my husband) wearing a bit of makeup! It's just blush, I swear!!

 

 

 

 This shot is my absolute favorite. That's a sentence I'm sure I have used and will use a lot when it comes to pictures of my kids, but that doesn't mean that it's not true right this second. I love it! I don't know why she posed like that or made that face but I was so glad to catch it on "film." (I like my old, outdated technological phrases. I haven't seen manual windows on cars for a while, but I still  say, "Roll the windows down." It just flows better!)

         

 

 

My Mitchell. This kid started walking at 9 and a half months old and has not sat still since. In fact, he just gets more and more mobile. He climbs on everything. He gets into everything. He is a daredevil with seemingly no fear. I'm surprised he stood still for a couple of pictures. It was a bonus that not only was he kind of looking near the camera, he's also kind of smiling.

 

 

 I tried to take a picture of both kids together, but alas, Quinn was not paying attention at all. Mitchell looked pretty decent on his own so I cut her out of the picture and was left with this little gem. Sometimes, I get lucky. This was one of those times!

                                          

 

 

And here are my two little love bugs together. Could it be any harder to get them both to act like they love each other? While smiling? At a good angle? In the shade? With a good background? While I snap pictures? Hmm.. It's pretty hard. My camera trigger was ready to shoot anything that looked like it might end up being frame worthy. This is all I could come up with. Granted, it's not entirely terrible, but it could be better. Their eyes are closed, Quinn can barely be seen, and our neighbors shed is in the background. I might try to re-do it, but I might just count my blessings and keep this one.

 

The Boring Introduction!

Hey everyone!

     I am Jill. I'm in my 30's. I am currently a "stay at home" mom to my 2 kids. I also have a husband who's pretty cool and 3 cats. I have a lot of different interests and also, a lot of time on my hands. So, I figured I'd use this blog like an online journal to keep track of it all.

     This is what I'm sure will end up being a blog about really boring stuff.  Don't get me wrong, it'll be super interesting and important stuff as far as I'm concerned, but for you, the reader, you will probably be bored. I plan to post pictures of the fun things I do with my husband and kids, my outfit choices, and possibly my awesome thrift store finds. Maybe I'll write some posts about my cooking or sewing experiences. Maybe I'll complain about someone I know or something that's going on in my life or in the world we live in. I'm just not sure where this blog is going to go. I'm not sure anyone will read it besides me. We'll get there when we get there, I guess.

     I guess that's it for now. Thanks!