West Street: Christmas Shopping for Me

11/23/2009

I love surprises but I’m picky. Kind of a catch-22, huh? I offered to my husband that I could buy myself a Christmas present this year AND buy him a Christmas present. He seemed pretty relieved to not have to shop so that was our plan. When I found out my gift was on sale last week, I convinced my mama to go shopping with me after our weekly lunch date.

If you know anything about my mama, you know bundling up her kids in cozy layers is a top priority. Warm sweaters, warm socks, warm slippers, warm hats, warm scarfs, etc. The fact that we’re all self-sufficient adults doesn’t change this instinct a bit. So naturally she jumped on the opportunity to buy this warm coat for me for Christmas. Sweet!

Now what to get myself for Christmas …

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Erie Trip – Part 3 (Bonus)

10/27/2009

Some people like to take pictures with funny mustaches. The A-team likes to entertain ourselves on road trips with taking funny pictures in “chinaman glasses” (leftover from a theme party for The Office).

officeglasses

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Packing Clothes for 5 Days

10/19/2009

This past weekend my husband, BIL, SIL and I went on a 5-day vacation to Erie, PA stopping half-way to stay overnight in Cincinnati, OH. As I was planning what clothing to pack, I thought it would be fun to share my method of mixing and matching clothing in order to pack as light as possible. Let me start off my saying a few things: 1. I am definitely no fashion expert, 2. I wear a lot of blue, green, brown and gray (I think this makes things easier), 3. I don’t iron my clothes. Now that I have those things off my chest, let’s go. Here’s the entire wardrobe for five days:

everything

(2 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, 3 sweaters, 2 jackets, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 hats, 2 scarfs)

Day 1
Expected plans: 4.5 hour car ride, visiting friends with 1.5 month old baby, dinner & maybe shopping or sightseeing:

day1

Comfy worn jeans, teal blue t-shirt, gray cable knit sweater, silver slip-on flats, gray striped scarf, black cap (optional)

Forecast: Hi 50º / Lo 41º Rainy

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Day 2
Expected plans: 5 hour car ride (on to second location), visit hubby and BIL’s grandmother, dinner with friends, shopping

day2

Dark jeans, gray keyhole t-shirt, green cashmere zip hoodie, brown wool cap, green suede casual shoes, long brown wool coat

Forecast: morning city Hi 51º; evening city Hi 48º / Lo 38º Rain 50% chance

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Day 3
Expected plans: Visiting friends and family, shopping, sightseeing, dinner with hubby’s family at home of our other BIL and SIL and our 1 yr old nephew Aiden

day3

Comfy worn jeans, green boat neck t-shirt, gray cable knit sweater, black fleece pullover, silver slip-on flats, gray striped scarf, black cap

Forecast: Hi 45º / Lo 39º Rain & show showers

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Day 4
Expected plans: Church and out to lunch with friends, birthday party for our nephew with family, hang out with friends and/or sightseeing in the evening

day4

Dark jeans, pink t-shirt under brown wool deep-v sweater, olive green jersey knit scarf, brown wool cap, green suede casual shoes, long brown wool coat

Forecast: Hi 50º / Lo 41º Sunny

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Day 5
Expected plans: 9.5 hour car ride back home

day5

Comfy worn jeans, light blue scoop neck t-shirt, green cashmere zip hoodie, gray striped scarf, silver slip-on flats, black cap

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Smells like Heaven

10/13/2009

Clean laundry is my favorite smell in the world. Not the artificial clean laundry smell they use for candles and air freshener – REAL clean laundry. I love it! Which makes me wonder why I was prioritizing price over smell (and apparently, quality).

100_6657

After 2 of my husband’s dark gray shirts got bleached by low quality cheapo detergent (I won’t mention the name but it’s pictured above in the blue bottle.), I decided to start buying Tide again. Tide smells wonderful. Combined with Bounce fabric softener sheets? HEAVENLY. Can’t wait to be enveloped by my clean sheets tonight!

100_6658

In case you’re wondering, we have done anything else with our master bathroom since Stage 2. But, we have shopped around for .75″x.75″ porcelain tiles and we’ve still been looking for a MCM cabinet to use as a bathroom vanity.

100_6661

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Phone Photo Friday

09/04/2009

phonephotofri

2009-09-04

Poor LuLu, my sweet little chocolate cocker spaniel. She absolutely hates having to go out in the rain so walking her is my only choice. At least Lucy’s doggie rain coat is adorable!

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Posted by mahlbrandt

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