Leopard Print Blazer, Plaid Blouse & Layered Necklaces: Hair Scare & A Nordstrom Giveaway

One would think that after teaching special education for almost 25 years I would learn to anticipate certain things. Like the effect of changes, for example. I know that my kids have a super hard time with change; move the furniture, they freak out; two hour delay schedule, they’re confused all day. But tweek my hair color? The whole damn world ends.

I suppose I should have seen that one coming. Although, to be fair, they’ve all been with me for quite awhile and they pretty much seem to roll with my fashion/beauty related quirkiness. I switch from summer to winter hair and vice versa every year. But for some reason the hair color change this time threw a couple of my little lovelies for a loop. You would’ve thought I shaved my head bald and tattooed my scalp. And moved all of the furniture. To another room. One of my kids took one look at me, bolted across the room to my friend/aide and while pointing at me and hopping up down kept saying, “Look at Mrs. Stinedurf! Look at her hair!” I had to pull my mirror out of my desk just to look and make sure my head wasn’t on fire.

So, my friends, how’s this for a super bold print mix? Truly, this particular mix isn’t for the faint of heart or the print mix virgin. I knew I wanted to mix plaid and leopard so I started with my leopard print blazer and built it from there. I considered a plaid flannel, but decided the sheer plaid blouse had more of the right feel; less bulky and more floaty. In keeping with the lighter feel, I went with the delicate layered necklaces as opposed to a statement necklace or scarf. I finished it off with my super cool red ankle booties since they tied in so well with the blouse.

Linking up with: Sunday Funday Linkup, Creative Monday’s Blog Hop, Style To Inspire, Let It Shine, How I Fall, Personal Style Linkup, Share-In-Style, Linkup With Lisa.

Leopard print blazer Leopard print blazer-002 Leopard print blazer-003 Layered necklaces Red ankle booties Leopard print blazer-001

Blazer: Sears (Old); Blouse: JCPenney (Old); Jeans: GAP (similar); Necklace: Headline Boutique

Okay, my friends…who wouldn’t want $800 to spend at Nordstrom? Eight. Hundred. Dollars!!! Just imagine the damage you could do with an $800 Nordstrom Gift Card! Take a minute and enter, because seriously, somebody is going to win. Why not you?

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $800 Nordstrom Gift Card

Co-hosts: The Style Boro // Stylish Adventures with AL // The Relevance Report // Sweet Haute // Strawberricurls // Jenn’s Blah Blah Blog // J. Frances // Cool Gear Cavalier // Mommy on the Money // ThemeTrip // Life is Poppin’ // La Mariposa // Rhea Et Cetera // TonieGirl // Jolie Pagaille // NYC Recessionista // A Lily Love Affair // TheItMom.com // Mr Modernist // TheBoxQueen // On the Daily Express // The Real Fashionista // A Pocketful of Polka Dots // The Fairy Princess Diaries // Mass Musings // everychicway // Livin’ Like Larz // October June // A Journey East // yourownboss.ca // Willfully Elegant

Giveaway organized by: Oh My Gosh Beck!

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter daily. Giveaway ends 3/20 and is open worldwide. Winner will be notified via email.

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Blown Away And A Giveaway: Plaid Flannel Button Down, Denim Joggers And Red Ankle Booties

     Today it was around 60 degrees outside. Wait…what?? Last week it was -6 with the wind chill. Bipolar much, weather? One would think it would’ve been perfect for blog picture taking. Um ya. If there weren’t 50 mph wind gusts. Literally. 50 mph. There’s windblown and there’s windblown. I did some shots inside, but I still can’t get the lighting set up quite right in the pumpkin cave, see yesterday’s post if you’re not sure exactly what the pumpkin cave is. Therefore, I decided to go with Friday’s outfit pics. It’s actually sad because today’s outfit was pretty fab if I do say so myself. If I’m feeling motivated over Thanksgiving break maybe I’ll recreate it for your viewing pleasure. Ya, I’m thoughtful like that.
     These red ankle boots are a big hit every time I wear them, and understandably so. They are perfect for taking an ordinary outfit and kicking it up a few levels. I used to wear them quite a bit, but they just happen to be the boots I was wearing when I slipped at work two years ago and tore my knee. After having knee surgery I was a bit wary of the little buggers. It’s not like they have much of a heel that would have caused me to slip, so maybe it was some sort of boot vendetta. Now every time I wear them I feel like I walk funny because I’m afraid to slip. I actually have them in three other colors, but my phobia only covers the red ones. Ya, I’m a freak and I’m lettin’ my freak flag fly. Thank you very much.
     You still have until Friday at midnight EST to enter the fab Fall Faves Giveaway. It would be a great free Christmas gift to yourself if you win and seriously, how cool is free?

Linking up with:  Confident Twosday, Style Sessions Fashion Link Up, Tremendous Tuesdays, Celebrate Southern Link Up, Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me, Trend Spin Link Up, Stylish Tuesday.

Joggers: Tilly’s;  Top: Old Navy (Old);  Sweater: Victoria’s Secret (Old);  Boots: Aldo via Amazon (Old)

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Inside The Pumpkin & A Giveaway: Brown Cords, Cable Knit Sweater And Orange Infinity Scarf

     As I write this I’m taking a break from cleaning and reorganizing the room where I take my inside blog pictures. Because seriously my friends, it’s starting to get just a tad too nippy outside for my liking. I recently bought a really cool four-fold screen/room divider to use as my background and I’m excited to start using it.
     The problem is, the room I use for my pictures is the computer/exercise/dog crates/sleeping space for when my son and his boyfriend visit room. Yes, all of that is crammed into one space. Granted it is a huge room…a huge orange rectangular room with no windows. I did say no windows. It’s like being inside of a giant pumpkin with bad lighting. Who builds a huge rectangular room with no windows? Not me; it unfortunately came this way. Who paints a huge rectangular room orange? Tragically, that was me. It was a fit of madness I tell you. Insanity at it’s finest. I can and eventually will repaint it a more agreeable color. I haven’t yet because it’s so freakin’ huge…and the walls are a weird texture that makes them incredibly difficult to paint. Call it procrastination, call it laziness. I prefer to call it motivational impairment.
     Since we’re on the topic of orange, let’s talk about this orange infinity scarf. It’s one of my favorites because the color is so vivid it can single-handedly take a neutral outfit to a whole new level. I thought it would work well with the beige cable knit sweater and brown cords, which it did. It also stands out beautifully with the camel coat. So see, orange isn’t all bad. Just when it’s on your walls.
     If you haven’t already, take a minute to enter my Winter Faves Giveaway. It’s open until Friday, November 28th at midnight EST. The winner will be announced Monday, December 1.

Linking up with: Creative Mondays Blog Hop, Visible Monday, Style To Inspire Link Up, Let It Shine Link Up, How I Fall.

Sweater: JCPenney (Old);  Pants: JCPenney (Old);  Scarf: JCPenney (Old);  Boots: Aldo via Amazon (Old)

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Buried In Paper: Black Dress, Leopard Blouse And Tan Ankle Booties

     I remember waaayyy back in the day, one of my high school teachers tried to talk me out of being a special education teacher because of the piles of paperwork. Mind you, that was in the 80’s when the paperwork was really minimal. We’ve come a long way since then, and due to the infinite wisdom of the government, the paperwork has increased exponentially.
    I have wanted to be a special education teacher since I was five (yes, five) for deeply personal reasons. I went into it solely because of the kids. Believe me, when I was a little girl I wasn’t thinking, “I want to be a special ed teacher so that I can waste countless hours of my existence writing IEP’s.” Each child has an individual educational plan (IEP) and they have to be rewritten at least yearly, sometimes even more often. Each document is anywhere from 25 to 40 pages long. Yes, you read that correctly, 25 to 40 pages per kid. That’s not counting all of the additional documents that need done for each student. By the second week in October I will have been out of the classroom for one testing day, three writing days and two meeting days. That’s six total days I’m not working with my kids because of paperwork to satisfy the state. I could pull my hair out at the absurdity of it all.
     I figured if I was holed up in my classroom writing IEP’s I might as well be comfy. This dress is a total cheapy from Walmart, but I swear to you, it’s like wearing a freakin’ nightgown. I threw the blouse and cardi over to at least look like I made an effort.

Linking up with: Tres-chic Fashion Link Up, What I Wore To Work, Throwback Thursday Link Up, Working Girl With Style and Spotlight Weekly Link Up.

How could I not use this shot…look at that little tongue!!

Dress: Walmart (In store purchase);  Blouse: Walmart (Old);  Cardigan: Walmart (Old);  Booties: Aldo via Amazon (Old)

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