Ugly Christmas attire: Why the sudden Interest?

I've seen recent posts, video's and even been invited to a few Ugly Christmas sweater parties.  Why the sudden urge to don ugly things and prance around...I've been doing it for years and it certainly cannot be a trend I created. 

Whether you do have an arsenal of ugly attire for the holidays or have maintained a classic style through the holidays you can appreciate that we all dress for ourselves first and impression, while important should also be second on the importance list.

Today is casual day in the office and I took the liberty to wear one of my many ugly sweaters -this one just happens to be a festive vest - don't be jealous you can pick up your own at Wal-Mart

Happy Holidays to you all and wishing you a wonderful new year!

DIY Bath Bombs for Holiday gifts

I’ve been seeing recipes; you tube videos and blogs about making your own bath bombs.  Since funds are pretty tight lately, I decided to do a little research on the costs and level of difficulty in making said bombs.   I found several helpful sites to assist:

Cool site 1

Cool Site 2

 

You Tube Videos:

Watch a Youtube Video 1

 

Watch another video here

Watch a bomb in action

We are expecting some pretty hefty snow flurries over this weekend and guess what I am planning on doing instead of going outside? you guessed it.  I had planned on posting what I've made so far and realized that by doing that would ruin my Christmas surprise to my friends and family that will be receiving homemade bombs this year.

What crafts do you put together for the holiday season, post pic's and share stories below. Happy Holidays!

Mixing Patterns: The Good, The Bad and the UGLY!

Mixing patterns can be tough to get the feel for.  Typically the best way to mix patterns is to have complimentary colors.  Also using similar sized patterns can be more tricky than a contrasting pattern (larger pattern with a smaller similar colored pattern).  I’ve used my tweed pink jacket with an animal print scarf.  The smaller pattern in the jacket works nicely with the animal print scarf because of the colors match as well as the balance of the smaller more neutral pattern against the larger animal print.   

While traveling I had the opportunity to snap a picture of a bad attempt at mixing pattern

 

While the young lady was using the Larger pattern with a smaller pattern she failed to "match" in color combination nor in Genre.  You should never mix fictional representations with patterns found in nature.  Had she used a large black tunic with a Large Batman sign on the front, this would be a do (for a comicon convention).

 

Best of luck in your pattern combos and before you leave your house ~ best to take a glance in a full length mirror :)

 

What I packed for my business conference

It seems to me, the most frequent talks amongst travelers for work is what to pack.  The question comes up time and time again.  The rule of Thumb is to pack as little as possible depending on weather with a mix-match wardrobe that can give you multiple looks throughout the week (s).  I recently went on a work trip to Las Vegas.  I left on a Monday morning and arrived home on Friday.  I wore on the plane a white button up blouse with grey pants.  Because the weather was very cold where I was leaving from and even colder in Las Vegas I also paired a thin white long sleeve T-shirt under my blouse with a Black sweater over the blouse.  I kept in my carry-on bag a pair of light weight gloves and wore a brightly colored pashmina as a scarf with my black wool coat.  

I packed one pair of black skinny pants, the matching blazer and coordinating black dress.  I also packed both a black and gray turtleneck and a pair of pajamas.  I wore a dark gray pair of flat shoes and packed a wedge heeled black shoes.   I packed undergarments and several pairs of tights in blacks and greys as well as trouser socks and pashminas of varying colors and an animal print belt.  I never wore the same outfit and used accessories like my pashminas as extra layering pieces and pops of color.   

A great option when traveling is to opt for a wardrobe that has the dress, dress pants and blazer and then add in extra pieces to complete the capsule wardrobe  I found several options on-line fairly quickly but you may have really good look at department stores in your area.  You want to ask for mix-match work pieces.

What do you pack for your business travel?