Frock Me Friday > Valentines Day

What will you be doing on Valentine's Day?  Are you cooking a special meal for your sweethearts or are you having a special date night?  If you're going out on a special date this weekend or on the actual day for Valentine's Day, I have three Frock Me Friday outfits for you to look great in!  Because this is a special occasion I have not built on my previous wardrobe - sometimes a girl just has to go out and splurge!

Outfit #1 - Classy

Outfit #2 - Classy but with a little shot of "wild."

Outfit #3 - Definitely for the under 40 crowd if you pair it with those short boots.

I love the skirt in outfit #3 and love, love, love the red leather jacket in #2 and #3.  I will be definitely adding one of these outfits to my Frock Me Friday Wardrobe - if only my Polyvore wardrobe budget was real . . .


-Laurie

Frock Me Friday > Lucky Red

Is there a better way to start Friday off than by gazing at some fashion?  Monday was Chinese New Years and I'm all about wearing some of that lucky "Red." I'm really not the kind of person to wear all red, although I've rocked a pair of red jeans back in the day.  I should have hung on to them because, wouldn't you know it, they are back in style this year (and I'm exactly the same size now as I was then...haha, *sob*)!  Now, I'm a bit more conservative and I like my red in smaller doses.  If you're shopping on Polyvore you can put together any number of crazy expensive outfits while sitting in your cozy little home, never having to bankrupt yourself for fashion.  I love it!


Outfit #1 

I do love those red booties.  Remember in the movie, "In Her Shoes", where she has that closet full of gorgeous shoes she never wears because just looking at them makes her feel good - having these booties in my closet would make me feel aahmazing!


Outfit #2

Check out the purse above - that was in my Polyvore wardrobe a couple of weeks ago.  The earrings you will be seeing again in the next outfit.  


Outfit #3

The red flats were already in my Polyvore Wardrobe from a couple of weeks ago.


Outfit #4

There are those red flats, black handbag and red earrings again!!!


My Polyvore Wardrobe is like my actual wardrobe - I'm trying to build on things I already have! If you take a closer look you'll see that most people already have a lot of those items in their closet.  Everyone has a basic black turtleneck, several pairs of jeans, black handbag (if you are me you have a red handbag also) and you probably even have that pair of gray slacks.  We all know that we have handbags of every color in our closets.  And I don't know about you, but I have enough coats to keep everyone in a small nation warm.  


Ladies, go assess your closet and what the heck, start your weekend off early and do a little shopping for some red.


- Laurie

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate > Chinese New Year

Happy New Year's - that's Chinese New Years to you.  


If you didn't know, today is Chinese New Years and the Year of the Dragon.  I like any reason to celebrate and Chinese New Years offers some unique opportunities.  






Reasons why I like Chinese New Years:




Clean House:  You know what they say about a great way to get your house in order is to have a party.  Well, Chinese New Year takes care of this because traditionally before the new year, homes are thoroughly cleaned to sweep away ill fortune and to welcome good luck.  I understand this because a messy house seems like ill fortune and when my house is clean anything seems possible.


Buy new clothing:  Any celebration where buying new clothes is involved is okay with me!!!  New clothing symbolizes a new beginning, and having more than enough things to use and wear in the New Year.  Also red clothing is often worn because the color red is believed to scare away evil spirits and bad fortune.  

New Clothes + Red = Good Fortune 

Family Gathering:  Celebrating with family, again for the same reason I have a get together on New Year's Day - I want to begin the year the same way I mean to continue - surrounded with family and friends.


Gifts:  Gifts are usually brought when visiting friends or relatives at their homes.  Yep, that's right, come and visit me and bring me a little gift - 'cause I like gifts.


Fireworks:  I like fireworks (just ask my neighbors.)  Enough said about that!


Have a little dinner party to celebrate.  I'm going to give you my recipe for Chinese Chicken Stew.  I don't know where this recipe came from as I've had it for years.

CHINESE CHICKEN STEW 

2 lbs. boneless skinless               2 cans chicken broth
   chicken                                       2 TBL cornstarch

2 tsp five spice powder               2 red bell peppers,

1 tsp red pepper flakes                  coarsely chopped

2 TBL peanut oil                         4 TBL soy sauce

2 onions, coarsely chopped         2 TBL sesame oil

16 oz. mushrooms, sliced            4 green onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced                Cooked rice

 

Toss chicken with five spice powder.  Season with red pepper flakes.  Heat peanut oil in large skillet.  Add chicken, cook and stir till chicken is brown and almost completely cooked.  Add onion, green pepper and garlic, saute till chicken is completely cooked.  Add chicken broth (reserving 1/4 c. broth for thickening), mushrooms, and soy sauce, simmer for about 40 minutes.  

Mix chicken broth and cornstarch together.  Stir in cornstarch mixture, sesame oil and green onions; cook another 10 minutes or so until stew is a nice thick consistency.

Serve over rice.

Now for the disclaimer:  I kind of think recipes are like a rough outline and you can use some or all of it.

Don't like mushrooms - don't add them.  

Red Peppers -I'm using the mini sweet peppers because that's what I have.  I've used green peppers before also.

Red Pepper Flakes - I've been known to use 2 tsp. red pepper flakes because I like this a little spicy.  

Chicken - I usually use 3 lbs of chicken. 

Peanut oil - If I don't have it, I use olive oil.

There you have it! 

For dessert, I made fun Fortune cookies.  I dipped them in Almond Bark and then dipped in sprinkles.  You can't go wrong with sprinkles and a fortune!

Now I'm off shopping so I can start the Chinese New Year with new clothing.

-Laurie

Frock Me Friday > Outfits for Marathon Shopping

Yup, that's right, I'm going shopping for Ding Dongs clothes.  


The kind of shopping I'm talking about is the kind where  you take armload after armload of clothes into your dressing room to try on (even when you know you're only walking out with two).  I'm talking, "Marathon Shopping" or the, "Olympics of Shopping."   That kind of shopping takes a special kind of outfit.  




It needs to be:

• something stylish because you don't want those shop girls thinking you don't know style.
• something comfortable for all day shopping.
• and something easy to get off and on. 

What I don't wear when I go shopping:

• Big earrings - they get in the way when you try on clothes.
• Too much jewelry - If I do wear jewelry, I usually only wear a simple necklace.
• Too many layers - it takes too long to take them off and put them back on.
• Button front shirts - self explanatory.
• Shoes or boots that are hard to get off and on.

Here are a few outfits that I would wear shopping:


Outfit #1:

All outfit details on Polyvore.

Love, love, love that bag but it's $400!!!!  


Outfit #2:

All outfit details on Polyvore.

The boots are only $68.  Trying on clothes is so much easier in the spring and summer but when it's 18.9 degrees out you need to wear a jacket or sweater.  That's right, that's what the temp is right now.  Thank goodness for that .9 - it makes it feel so much warmer.


Outfit #3:

All outfit details on Polyvore.

All of the outfits above would be perfect for a marathon session of trying on clothes.  Hmmmm, although, if I owned these outfits I wouldn't need to go shopping!


- Laurie

Frock Me Friday > Goin' To The Chapel

Well, I'm not going to the chapel but Angela Glossy Flossy did 12 years ago.  Happy Anniversary Miss Angela & hubby!! The wedding was a beautiful candlelit affair. (It took the candlelighters 20 minutes to light the candles.)  As tribute to Miss Angela's anniversary, I'm dedicating today's "Frock Me Friday" to wedding dresses.  I would dedicate this to mother of the bride or groom dresses but I like to wait till 2 weeks before the wedding to buy one (true story x 2).  Yep, I did it twice.  I think we mentioned that we will be having another wedding in our family next year, so being the entertaining divas we are, we've been pretty much consumed with all things wedding. 

source: nikkicrumpet.blogspot.com

There all kinds of wedding dresses out there to appeal to everyone's sense of "style" and "good taste." If your motto is "I've bought it, so flaunt it!" this would be the dress for you. 

However, if you have a different sense of style, I have some other dresses for you via one of my fave sites - Pinterest.

There are many wedding choices for the bride that wants the officiant to be able to perform the ceremony without stuttering!  Watch for my Frock Me Friday > Mother of the Groom post (about two weeks before the wedding).      

- Laurie

Frock Me Friday > Giving You The Boot!

Today is the first day of fall my little fashionistas, and when I think of fall, I think of boots! Here's a little inspiration to get you in the mood (dum dada dum dum dum dum dum...)



Now here's the goods:

Boots by Jessica Simpson
Boots by Roper

Riding, Western, Bootie, Scrunched, Buckled, Calf, Button, Laced, Wedged.....Aahhh, the possibilities!

Now if only the freakish fall weather in my hometown would get below 90 degrees here, I too could show some love to my boots!

Happy Shopping,
~Angela

Frock Me Friday > Update!

Remember last Friday's Frock Me post, where I professed my love for all things Missoni? So here I am, rushing the kids off to school, hopping in the car, and then happily motoring on to my hot date with Target and all things Missoni, only to be greeted with this:

And this:

And THEN I saw a woman stomp over to this empty display, rip off an accessory hanger, and throw it to the ground in disgust!

Okay, I admit it. That was me. But seriously, this was at 10am! What kind of mayhem had occurred before that?!

I also read online that the Target site crashed from heavy traffic due to all the crazed Missoni shopping. Wow, my fan club must have really taken off...

To all you ladies who scored yourself something Missoni fabulous on Sept. 13th, congrats! You must have had to really fall back on your Christmas competitive shopping skills.

~Angela