laurspag

Hi Margaret! I ordered a few things from Old Navy recently. They are a great source of items for my grandson, and for Easter, I got him a few things that just came in. I'd rather get him non-candy items, since I know he will get candy from others. I received part of my order a few days ago. The cropped linen pants came in. They are very nice and comfy. They are nice warm shade of green. I'm waiting on the wide leg pants. I went back and forth on what color to order, and finally chose both. Between the sale and my coupon, I got them for less than $14 each so I figured it was worth it. It is currently snowing, so I am trying to imagine summer and wearing linen. It was about 20- degrees warmer just a few hours ago when I was on my way home from work. I should go back and take a look, because I had originally headed to the site for my grandson, and saw the linen bottoms on sale. I didn't look at anything else. I know that the items I have purchased from them in the past year or two have all been very nice - good colors and quality. I think the only thing from them that don't fit me well are their jeans, for some reason. I just saw this, and if I place an order, I may toss this in. It's only $6, and I purchased one of these tees last year and it was really nice. The first color looks earthy. I think even the flower stems are brown. EveryWear Printed Slub-Knit T-Shirt for Women | Old Navy (gap.com) What items have you seen, Margaret?

Margaret, we love trains so this may be the perfect idea for us. Melody, you must feel like you are being sprung from jail. It is so hard when you can't do your usual things. Anita, I was thinking about the Style Statement book. Over time, I have felt that elegant and harmony are indeed reflective of my personality...at least, what I aim for. I got to thinking that there was more words to describe my style, and then I realized that we don't always think outside the box. For example, harmony. I want people to get along. I want clothes or household decor to compliment each other without competing. I also realized I treat clothing like a uniform - I feel certain things are worn for certain events or tasks. It dawned on me not too long ago that you could view that as part of harmony. It probably sounds crazy, but my work clothes are only worn to work, gym clothes only worn for exercising. The word elegant may be one where it isn't as dominant as it once was, but still a part of who I am, or how I want things to look. I have found myself really discovering so much about myself. I'm more comfortable with myself in certain areas, such as when I stopped coloring my hair. I'm excited to do things I love and enjoy, instead of always focusing on work or others. I used to feel so guilty. I might just get my style statement book out again too. I think it would teach me a lot about what has changed and what has stayed the same. Margaret, I was trying on some dresses this morning. I love mix and matching accessories and daytime outfits. I try to make a point of having tops that can worn with different shorts or sandals, for example. With dresses though, I don't do that. I think about how the dress fits that particular night's dinner. I'm thinking about Kibbe as well. Do I have that word correct? I have something saved on that so I need to look it up. Dramatic classic, I think it was.

Definitely bipolar weather here too. It's snowing right now. I think Colorado and Central New York have some weather similarities, don't they? It's hard to imagine living anywhere else though. I love the Syracuse area, including the things that make it special, such as the Dome, the upside down light near Coleman's, Dinosaur Barbecue...it's all good. I love sports, and we have a myriad of Syracuse University sports to see, as well as the Syracuse Crunch (hockey) and the Syracuse Mets. My current plan for this weekend is to finish up the laundry, and take in some NCAA men's basketball tonight. Tomorrow, we're going to the home show, and I will be doing some ironing. If all goes well, I'm going to pair some accessories to cruise clothes, because I can't wait to go on vacation. I often buy my grandson clothes at Old Navy. They're priced really well, and made well fo rthe price. Last year, I got a few sales items for my daughters and myself. They have a good sale going on now, and I got my grandson two swim trunk and rash guard sets. This is for his Easter basket. While I was there, I saw linen pants and crops for $14.00, so I am going to try them Like most linen pants, they have an elastic waistband so that should be helpful as I continue to work out. I also like wearing linen during the summer, and my husband and I are focused on doing little things, whether it be finding a restaurant with outdoor seating, going to a movie, or whatever. I don't dress up, but I wear a lot of the same casual wear that I wear on a cruise. Linen pants would make a nice addition.

Anita, I'm glad this bout with Covid wasn't bad for you and that you bounced back quickly. Slidergirl -- your gambling seems to be similar to mine, ha. I get a few scratch offs, and play a small amount of slots once a year when we cruise. I guess it takes too long to earn money to spend it that fast! My husband and I looked at options, and we ended up going with a three night specialty dinner package. As it turns out, I saw the now infamous Premier Package, and booked it. Of course it was a mistake, but they kindly let me cancel it and gave me $50 OBC, so I used that towards it. I knew the Premier Package was too good to be true, but there was no reason not to book it. In a worst case scenario, it's a mistake and you get your money back, right? I was telling my husband today that I get excited about planning our cruises, even though we have a long time before we cruise. Then he mentioned we are about 6 months away. After a moment, I realized that time was going quickly. We haven't booked anything for St. Maarten or St. Kitts yet. In St. Maarten, I may book Bernard's Tours again. We have used them twice, and they always have a lot of options. If Rosemary's is still there, I think that will be our choice for lunch. It's really good there. St. Kitts...we don't think we've been there before. I think we were scheduled to with one of our cruises but then weather redirected us. Since we have a day at Cococay, we are looking for non-beach things to do. No harm in planning cruise outfits either! I think I kind of have everything picked out, believe it or not. Well, picked out in my head. I am going to do the same thing I did with the last cruise, where I try to get items of the dress, shoes and accessories separate, and then combine them with the layout app. I find it a great way to review what I'm planning without dragging everything back out. I think I'm going to do this with my daytime outfits as well. I'm going to try not to bring too many shoes, if I can. Melody, how are you doing? How has your weather been? We got a foot of snow on Tuesday. Then it reached 52 degrees today. We live in strange times...

Yes, it sure was a great run, Melody. I'm rather emotional....SU basketball has been a big part of my life since I was a kid, when my mom and I would listen to the games on the radio together. I could hear better back then, and she just loved watching them play. I remember when they won the tournament in 2003. My mom had passed away in December of 2000, and I just cried. I cried because I was so happy to see them win, I cried because my mom was not there to see it. They are in good hands with Coach Autry, who played for Syracuse. It will be so strange not seeing Coach Boeheim on the sidelines though.

Quoting you here, Anita: It's a slow process but I've been making achievable goals that have nothing to do with progress necessarily except to being DOING and not concerned too much with what doing is actually doing, trusting that over time the doing will add up and progress will manifest as I keep adding a little bit here and there. I'm aiming to be consistent with everything that I decide to do and work myself up into a pillar of health and wellness. LOL. All I can say on that is to not stress too much about it all...because the stressing has such negative consequences. THIS!!!!! Anita, that really hits home for me. When my husband and I started the whole gym journey a while back, it was all about working towards health and overall fitness. It was not about being a size 8 or weighing 130 pounds or meeting some sort of goal by a certain date. It was about taking care of myself, and making that process a part of my life for the long haul. It became a part of my routine. Even when we all had to wear masks, I went back to the gym as soon as they were allowed to reopen. Then so many things just threw me off: my husband's health, being short staffed at work, etc. I currently just have the goal of being active, and doing something that is for me. My work life balance struggles have always been there, but it got bad for a while, and finally one day I just fell into this sort of funk. My husband was right there to help me through it all. I was literally just starting to feel like I was figuring it out at the end of last year. My growth as a leader, making objective decisions, etc. Then a few things happened last week at work that felt like I was completely set back. Without going into a bunch of detail, I will say that being in a higher up position can come with a lot of pressure, and sometimes we have to make decisions that are very, very difficult. I feel like I have a better handle on stress these days, but I'm back to looking to fill a position again, and I will need to take responsibility for many of the job duties in the meantime. It's feels like a setback. I did the right thing for the bank and all, it was just hard. The key right now is to remember how far I've come, and not to slip back into old ways. I can't do it all. I can't solve every problem.

Melody, if I canceled the prepaid gratuity because of the dining package, I would just pay our room steward and so forth separately. Currently, we tend to pay extra on top of the prepaid anyway. I'll have to see what my husband thinks. Thank you for the feedback, Anita. In my past cruises, we have sailed on a lot of smaller ships, and I always find that I enjoy the dining room a lot more. Generally, the bigger the ship, the more specialty dining appeals to us. There are a lot of things that I remember very well from our Allure cruise, and the specialty dining was part of it. Melody, how is your foot and toe doing? I hope you are feeling much better. After our freezing rain I told you about, we ended up getting some snow. Today was quiet, but I am hearing a few more storm fronts may be coming through the area. I'm still in awe that your son is graduating, Anita. I always joke with people that I know my kids have grown up, but I don't expect everyone else's kids to do the same. I remember when they were still in high school and I would be posting pictures here, and now they are 30 and 34. Time really flies. I am slowly increasing my elliptical use, and it feels good. My plan is to be on it quite a bit. Of course, work gets in the way again. I was just getting to the point where I was developing a decent work home balance and routine, and then we had some issues so I'm feeling off again. I went to work for a few hours extra yesterday, and I'm about to start going through some paperwork I brought home with me. Hopefully, we get everything straightened out soon, but I think it will be a while. I am trying hard to take care of myself mentally and physically.

This may sound odd, but I have never been in the pool on any of my cruises. We've used the hot tub, but not the pool. So I guess I should look and see where those are on Harmony! I have contemplated the specialty dining package for us. I go back and forth. I have always liked the dining room experience as well as what we call "date nights" where we go to a specialty restaurant once or twice. If memory serves me right, I didn't love the dining room when we were on Allure. It seems so long ago now. 2017, I think? I'm not keen on the cost of adding that on. A lot of people say the additional cost covers gratuity, but I always feel compelled to tip extra. I don't know...maybe I should book the dining package, cancel the gratuities, and then pay them on my own? In the big picture of things, it would make sense if we went with the dining package. Paying for waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter...that can all be turned into the tip for the specialty dining. We can then add more too if we feel the service is exceptional. There is so much to choose from with all the dining! I love all sorts of things. 7 days is a lot of eating out at restaurants, lol. The main dining room has smaller quantities. I know you have both mentioned some restaurants, but which ones did you go to, and what did you think of each? Note to Melody: the advantage of a hearing loss is not hearing loud kids in a restaurant, lol. I can only imagine what flying to London must be like. Have you visited him in London? I seem to remember something about that. I can't remember if it was before he started school or not. This weather is kind of nutty. We have not had a normal winter by any means. We have not had much snow. We have had rain. When it is cold, it is dry. We have had some bitter cold on a few occasions and a total white out not long ago. Currently, we have had freezing rain for about 24 hours. Fortunately, the ice cover roads have been during the night so my drive to and from work has been fine.

I'm thinking a carpet runner. I will find a picture of the style we like.

Cruising without our kids is a major adjustment. To backtrack a little bit, we always went with the girls. Then when my daughter lived on campus, my other daughter watched the dogs for us when we went on a few cruises alone. It was such a weird experience for us. When my younger daughter was graduating, we got to thinking that with the changes that occur in life, we may never go on a cruise as a family again. Coordinating with one adult child is one thing, but with two? So we had our epic family cruise in 2014 on Freedom of the Seas. We all went into that vacation feeling happy and excited, and it didn't disappoint. Since that time, it has been just my husband and I. The exception was when my daughter got her master's degree, and her and I went on a short cruise together. The plan is to go to Disney with my other daughter and my grandson in the next few years, but she is going through a rough time right now so we will see. To be honest, cruising with just my husband created separation anxiety for me at first, but I quickly realized that we were all getting an opportunity: my kids had the chance to grow independent and take care of themselves while we trusted them to keep the house and dogs situated. For us, we had the ability to do what we wanted, when we wanted. I married just shy of 19, and did not have the opportunity to travel or even go on date nights for many, many years due to my divorce. Meeting Brian, we were in a situation of bringing a very dated house up to standards while trying to save more for retirement (we couldn't do much when we were single) and try and help the girls as they went to college or whatever. So this is a very different time for us. I know your situation is different than ours, but I share because we all go through so many different experiences. If my husband felt healthier, our plans for the future would be different. We are taking the approach that when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. He has been going through a good stretch since his most recent flare, so we have been squeezing in some fun stuff. We have a week off in April, and we are catching up on some things like eye appointments, meeting with our financial advisor and so forth. We are also putting aside some money to do fun stuff! A beer garden opened up in the city recently, so we are going to go there for lunch. We plan to catch a movie at Movie Tavern, the place that serves food while you are in a recliner, etc. We are going to take a day trip, but we aren't sure where yet. We are contemplating an overnight stay in Skaneateles, but we aren't sure. Since it will be the second week of April, we could have anything here as far as weather goes. It could be sunny and 50, cloudy, windy and 60, or we could get a snowstorm. Take your pick! I think dates are important to go on, at any age. I don't think I mentioned it, but we had the week long experience of no heat, and the next weekend we had to work on the leaking sink drain and replace the faucet. When we went to get some of the supplies, I suggested we stop for lunch. My husband likes to just do things, and I just go with it. I'm an over planner; he is a creature of habit. While we drove, I was wondering what restaurant we would end up. He drove by the usual places and jumped on the highway. I was very curious, but assumed it would Dinosaur Barbecue. He went past that exit though. He ended up driving us to the university, where he had already purchased us tickets to the lacrosse game. It was fun and I loved it! We need things like that sometimes. You've been on Harmony? This will be our first trip on her. I was on Allure back around....2017? I think. We avoided sailing on bigger ships after that for a while, but we are looking forward to this trip. We are more prepared now regarding the size and lack of having he ocean to look at. The oceanview balcony room was a must, but it is when walking around that it throws me off. I remember how stunned my husband was that the lounges didn't have windows in them. I'm mentally planning out my outfits, even though we don't cruise until September. Not that we can do this now, but I would love to book a cruise on short notice and just pack in a hurry and go. With work, it takes a great deal of figuring out for time off.

Such exciting times with your son, Anita. I can imagine it has been an adjustment for you and your husband having him away at school. With my younger daughter, she went to school locally. She lived on campus the first two years, then went from home. She did a summer session overseas, and also did an internship in Albany. Now that she has her master degree and a job in her intended field, we don't see her a lot even though she lives at home. She takes care of herself so she just asks before she starts laundry in case I am about to do mine, etc. It is different. I think she is ready to move on, but the cost of renting right now is outrageous. She has so many friends, that I thought for sure she would share a two bedroom apartment as her first place. However, she had a gap between graduating college and getting her master's degree so one friend is married, another lives with her boyfriend, another lives across the country, and so forth. She also has the opportunity to increase her salary greatly with her employer paying for CPA license so I think her focus right now is that. She has told us many times that unless she is out of town for work, just let her know when we wish to travel! My dogs do not do well at doggy daycare type places. Last cruise we went on, she took care of them except for two days when she had to travel. As it turned out, my other daughter was able to stay over those days because that is when her son was with his dad. Havey is 13 and showing lots of signs of his age. Mason is 9 and will be 10 soon. We are very aware that we have seniors in the house. It has a lot to do with how we live. Traveling is so much more than just making reservations and saving up, my husband working late means I need to head straight home, day trips can only happen when I have my daughters to assist. I had cats for a long time. It was so much easier, lol. The food bowl and water was kept filled by whoever we asked, and then there was a litter box. One of our friends would stop in after work at 3:00 each day and spend an hour with them and leave. With dogs, the schedule is much stricter for going outside and so forth. In addition, both of mine suffer a lot of separation anxiety. They start to get worked up just by seeing our suitcases.

Melody, I have a Nautilus. I was looking at reviews online to try see what people liked after they made their purchase. I then received a Consumer Reports that gave good reviews of the one I purchased as well as the other one I was looking at. Off the top of my head, I am not sure Peloton has an elliptical. Ellipticals are my go to. It seems they work a lot of different muscles at once, especially if you use the levers. It seems easiest on my hips as well. My other favorite is a recumbent cycle, but I feel like I'm only working out from the waist down, if that makes sense! This particular one elliptical has a lot of resistance, even on the lowest setting. I am easing into it, and continuing my regimen of Naproxen daily. I need the movement, or my hips get sore and stiff. If I overdo it, then my hips get sore as well. It's a balance. Anita, I do have those 8 foot ceilings! I can reach up and touch the ceiling, reach to my right and touch the ceiling fan....honestly, both my husband and I are looking forward to the conversion to a gym. I have never had a spare room, and always wanted one. We realized pretty quickly that it wouldn't get much use. My daughter's friend used it overnight, and then my other daughter used it for two weeks when she and her husband first split up. We still had the crib too so it worked out well. My grandson is 3 so he isn't in a crib, and no one has used the room since. We have some thoughts on our space. The gym is needed, and very much wanted and anticipated. We are keeping the chair and the little nightstand style table off to one side. I've already used the chair more than it has been used since we set up the room. If I get up before everyone else, I go in, sit down, put on my sneakers, etc. We do want to be able to have room for someone in a pinch. My grandson splits time between his parents, and we haven't had him overnight. As he gets older, I see it happening more. I was thinking that today's futons look so much more stylish. They can be used as a couch too. More than likely, when my other daughter gets her own place, we will get a futon for that room, along with some other things we have discussed. I would like to have a room with a square table for putting together puzzles or maybe playing games. Keep in mind that my husband wants to stay in our home for as long as possible, despite the fact that we will have too much room by then and stairs that may be difficult for him. I understand...we love our house, and we try hard to make sure we are using all the space. Honestly, if we were to look for something different, it would mostly be to have everything on one level. It isn't really about square footage. We discussed recently having a stair runner put in. The oak treads can be slippery. We have rails on both sides, so there is that.

Melody, I'm glad to hear you are doing well. You have a good attitude. It can be easy to get disheartened with things sometimes, and it's so important to fight back. mental attitude has such a big impact on our physical health. Anita, I had no idea that you had covid. You had a very serious case of it! I'm glad you are taking care of yourself and working toward overcoming the side effects from it. It's an awful illness. I've always thought it would be fun for all of us to meet up some day. My elliptical is together, and I have been using it. I definitely need to remove the bed from the room though, I think. The elliptical fits, but I want to get a mat to use for stretching exercises and for when I use weights. It only makes sense to have it all in one area. As is, the elliptical is higher than expected, and when I'm on it, I'm not all that far from the ceiling! I feel a bit claustrophobic, lol. I know I have said similar things before, but here I am repeating myself: You are all friends to me. I'm glad you stopped in to chat with us, Anita. I worry when it's been a while since we have heard from you. Melody, I'm glad you let us know how your surgery went. I've wondered a lot about Sally and Mousey. I hope they are doing okay.

Oh, I forgot to tell you....the red dress I posted that I wanted to send back for a different size.... Well, it isn't on sale right now, and the regular price is $119.00. Saks Off Fifth has it for $59.99, plus 15% off. There is shipping, but the extra percentage off covers that. To me, it's a no brainer at this point because it is half off. It's always good to look for a bargain. I saw a lot of good deals on the site overall.

Margaret, that sounds like a dream cruise to me. Seeing the Northern Lights is a bucket list item for me. I am very excited for you! I know I have a bit of a reputation for not wearing clothes over again. And I'm a washaholic. (laundryholic?) In reality though, I do wear clothes again before washing them. Right now, I have a few pair of dress pants that are actually a heavier knit. I wear those twice before they hit the laundry. With jeans and sweaters, I wear them a number of times, depending on the time of year and weight. I bring that up because this doesn't sound like a sweaty cruise for you, lol. I'm not sure what the temp range is that you are expecting, but it sounds like you will be needing layers. Those can be reworn, and can feel very different by mixing and matching. I did this a bit on the Pacific coastal cruise. I did not pack things that were warm enough over all, but I was planning on cool weather so I had different scarves and two lightweight coats to wear with different bottoms. I truly thought it was going to be a situation where I wore layers that would be shed throughout the day as it warmed up, but it was cold thru and thru! We have talked about doing the same cruise again someday. I would like an extra day on the west coast to adjust to the time difference, and to be able to explore. The planning and researching must be a lot of fun. We haven't done too much planning for our cruise yet, but Cococay isn't new to us. However, it has been a while so we will need to figure out St. Thomas and St. Kitts is a new port. We kept thinking we had been there, but then when I was trying to look back, I couldn't find where we had gone. I'm not certain, but I think on the southern Caribbean cruise, we were supposed to go to St. Kitts and it was changed due to the hurricane path. How long is your cruise? 2 weeks?

Melody, I'm so sorry to hear this. Is this the result of the various surgeries you have had? I know you have had issues with your foot for many years now. I hope you have a speedy recovery. Do you have any travel plans that may need to be postponed due to your surgeries? Health comes first, of course.

So the last two dresses came. The first is the one with the black background with brown leaves and gold flowers on it. It is a beautiful dress. It fits well, and the fabric is like a mid weight satin with stretch. It adds a really nice, elegant touch. I had trouble with the black. I thought maybe it was me, but I could tell right off that my husband wasn't fond, nor was my daughter. if the dress appeals to any of you, I would try it! I know most of you wear black and black prints. It is such a beautiful dress, and it is easy to wear. I just felt very pasty looking in it. Don't be fooled by the petite sizing. While I don't know how tall any of you are, I'm 5'4 1/2" and it was much longer than the photo. It went knee length on me. I was just thinking...am I short??? Then there is the animal print swing dress. The black is much more broken up on this dress, and the brown is rather prominent in person. The dress lays really well. I wasn't sure about that when I was ordering it, because in the photo, it doesn't drape, it kind of tents out. So that is a keeper, and only $30.00 to boot. I guess you just never know. I try to keep an open mind, and try things on to see.

Pricing is funny sometimes. The red dress is currently not on sale, so I'm not sure if I would reorder now. I'll see what I think when I try it on again, but it definitely had to taken in on the sides under the arms, and it felt like it hung down too far. I would say it needed to be taken up at the shoulders, but this doesn't have shoulders. I think it would take more work than what I would want to pay for, so I'll wait for another sale and order a smaller. size then. It's $119.00 right now. When I ordered, it was on sale and I had a 25% off coupon that I was able to apply to it as well. I worry too that it could sell out or something, but I think I will take the chance.

Melody, we are at 44 degrees right now. You are right, this is insane weather. I wanted to walk you through some of the dresses I ordered. Rather than post links, I"m going to try for pictures where I can. I think it is easier. I don't have everything yet, so I like to make final decisions once I have everything I've ordered first. A few things though are definitely not being kept so I will point those out. The first group here is from Macy's. This one here I thought was a little different. The color was very pretty, and I thought it would look really nice on a cruise or to a summer event. It was a risk for me because things that tie at the waist are not a good look for me. I was thinking that maybe I could remove the tie and wear it that way, possibly. I have to be honest....I didn't like it in the least once I put it on. I just felt it was completely wrong for my body shape. My torso is too short for things that define the wait area, overall. It didn't lay right without the tie though. I"m in love with the color of this dress. It is very body conscious, and that is throughout the entire dress. That's a no for me. I got to thinking I should try ordering a size up, and seeing if it falls looser in the thigh area? If it does, I would definitely look at it. I also could care less what size the tag says. It is a pretty stretchy dress, so I think it forms to where it needs to. Once again, I'm going to try it on again to get a better idea. Now the next one. I'm just too weak to pass up a red dress, lol. I really like this. The tulip hem creates a really nice flow, and it would look great on dress your best night with some elegant jewelry. It seems too big though, so I am going to order a size down. This is why I say I don't care about what size is on a tag - I ordered a dress that is too big and one that is too small. This is the dress that hasn't come in yet: Next up is my order from Belk. I've never ordered from them before, but they had some fantastic deals. I thought this might work, so I ordered it. I'm on the fence. It fits fine, maybe a little bit loose. I'm not sure it does a lot for me, but it doesn't look bad either. It is stretchy and sparkly. I'm sure I'll figure it out once I try it on again. The next dress is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. It has a funny story to it. I saw the dress on the Macy's site, but it was only available in plus size so I went looking to see if it was available in regular misses sizing. That is how I ended up on the Belk website. It was also cheap. The dress above was $20.00 and this one here was $30.00. I got a $10 off coupon for signing up for emails as well. Like the one dress from Macy's it may end up having too much black in it. We will see. Next is Nordstrom Rack. I think I have ordered from them before once or twice. It is always very iffy. I love this color. It is more of a dress that I would wear to work, but I have to say, it is comfortable and has stretch. I could see myself wearing it to dinner on a cruise. I should add that I really don't wear dresses to work other than once in a while, but if I have a work function to go to, this will work for that as well. Now for the last one. I didn't like this at all. I was hoping it would feel somewhat like Margaret's brown beaded dress. It is just not me. So it is going back. The one pictured below is what I ordered, which is brown. There are other colors as well.

I know it seems like I often look at what people would call body con styles. I've never really worn anything like that though. I had one full length formal dress that was somewhat fitted from the waist down, but not a lot. I mention that because when I post items that seem really fitted, I know that I have to order up a few sizes so that they fit on top. They often end up with a fit closer to what you see in that dress I just posted. If it doesn't look right, I will adjust the side seems myself or go to my favorite tailor. So I can buy a body con dress and end up with a different style. Does that make sense? Speaking of dresses...here is what I have done. I have ordered a few from three different stores: Nordstrom Rack, Belk and Macy's. I tend to order a lot, and then send most back. I have two things I am waiting for, including that dress I just posted a picture of. With the rest, I can say most are going back. Part of ordering clearance items is that they are on clearance for a reason. I'm floored how bad sizing can be sometimes. Anyway, I hope to get some pictures of the dresses hanging up this weekend, and then I will tell you what my plans are. I always try things on a few times before I make a final decision, but out of 7 dresses, I think I will keep 2. Another will go back for a much larger size than what I normally wear, because I really like the dress but it is much too body con for me. I'll make a firm decision later though. I factor in how much I am paying for the item, if I can do it myself, if I need to have it tailored, etc. I am also hopeful for items that are easy to adjust or are a little easy fitting, so that as I lose weight (I hope) they are easy to wear and can eventually just have a modest adjustment made that I can do myself. I hope everyone has kept warm. I'm so glad we had the boiler replaced when we did, as yesterday would have been a serious issue. We hit -25 degrees, but I am pretty sure it went down a little more after I had last checked. The part that wasn't called for was the snow. It isn't a lot of snow, but it led to white out conditions on my way home from work. My 15 minute drive took 40, and I was so scared that my FitBit told me my pulse was 150, lol. Boy am I grateful though. a warm house, everyone safe and sound. I followed up and made sure all my employees in my department got home safe as well. We are blessed.

I keep going back to look at this dress. I think it just has too much black for me. I have not worn this much black since...I don't know, ten years? This would have been so perfect if they had given it a chocolate background instead. It's a petite, but based on the length, I would have given it a try. I might try it, since the gold is really the most outstanding color, and there is a bunch of brown. Hm.... Net price after my coupons I have available is $31.50.

Macchiato is a color I like a lot. I believe I might have a few things in this color already. The greed is really nice too. I thought fiery red looked earthy at first, but seeing it on my computer screen enlarged, I wasn't so sure. It's one of those reds where I wasn't really seeing an undertone to it. I wasn't seeing orange or blue/purple. But it's red, so I love it. While I saved the items I saw at Macy's so that I watch some of the pricing, I did continue to look around in other stores to see who had what. I find it really hard to find much. Macy's is a truly big department store so they tend to have quite a bit of variety and they have lots of sales. I also love that i get free returns and free shipping. I did see a few things in Nordstrom Rack and Belk too. I have heat! I worked from home today so that things could be finished up, but they did end up finishing around 10 last night. The house feels great, but the radiators in the family room and mud room need to be bled. We will either call them back or my husband will do it. That is typical when the water is shut off. You just have to let it run a bit to get the air out of the pipe. At different times during the day, the water and gas were off so that was a little rough. It meant we couldn't use the fireplace but the little space heater in the family room did an excellent job. Those guys worked soooo hard! They didn't want to leave until our heat was on.

I think this dress here is beautiful. I have no place to wear it, so I'm not going to buy it, but I love seeing beautiful dresses in a variety of styles and colors. Adrianna Papell Women's Beaded Off-The-Shoulder Gown & Reviews - Dresses - Women - Macy's (macys.com) This is very pretty also. In person, I think the metallic probably adds a really nice, elegant touch: Lauren Ralph Lauren Women's Paisley Metallic Jacquard Gown & Reviews - Dresses - Women - Macy's (macys.com) Isn't this pretty? Eliza J Lace V-Neck Gown & Reviews - Dresses - Women - Macy's (macys.com) This has a black background, but the print is really nice and warm: Connected Petite Sleeveless Scoop-Neck Sheath Dress & Reviews - Dresses - Petites - Macy's (macys.com)

Melody, I can imagine you must be feeling rather stir crazy! I am home today as I took a personal day. We are getting our boiler replaced. Thank goodness we have a gas fireplace in the living room, because we had to turn off the furnace when we found the crack in the heat exchanger. We cannot leave the fireplace on all the time, as you can imagine. It has been a long week without heat or hot water! The sad thing is that the boiler wasn't quite 14 years old. The heat exchanger had a limited 15 year warranty, but it is prorated based on the age and it wasn't going to cover much. As a mater of fact, the replacement of the part and all the labor wasn't much less than a new boiler, so we decided to bite the bullet now. So I am in the den, which is near the living room. It is still pretty cool in here though. I decided to just look around a bit online, and came across this dress. I have a long sleeved dolman shirt in this kind of fabric. Whenever they put that darker gold on the black, it looks like brown! Is that just my eyes? What do you think? DKNY Women's V-Neck Metallic Ruched-Knit Sleeveless Gown & Reviews - Dresses - Women - Macy's (macys.com) I'm not really looking at long dresses currently, even though I love them. I feel that maybe I can rotate what I have (if I can fit into them!) and supplement with some cocktail length dresses. I loved the ivory dress I wore on the last cruise, and I feel the dress I wore for my daughter's wedding would be perfect with blingy jewelry...which I have. As a matter of fact, I went to Etsy and had the necklace made specifically with the dress in mind. Once again, I would have to try on the dress. But anyway, I'm enjoying some window shopping. With a great sale, I'd consider that dress at $100.00 or less down the road. It is sparkly, but I often find fabric like that does not appear quite as dressy. I think it takes a bit of thought to figure out formal nights these days. I dress for myself, but I also like to feel like I'm over the top. I'll keep you posted if I find anything fun!

The cutout is cute. I wasn't sure what to think at first, but it is a nice little update. The color is really nice too, don't you think?