Check out my new blog! Fashion and Fitness!

Check out my new blog at www.healthyandfitat36.blogspot.com where I am continuing to share my fashion finds as well as my new love for fitness and nutrition.  I've lost about 15 lbs over the past 6 weeks by eating clean and exercising.  I'm sharing my journey of how I did it at my new blog.  I still am a real mom with my own real style.  I hope you'll follow me there!

Dress: Lauren Conrad bought at Kohls Summer 2014
Necklace: Jane.com bought Spring 2014

My Outfits this Week - last week of February in SC

I know I won't have a chance to always update the blog daily, but I have been trying to stay consistent with taking a quick picture of myself in the outfits I've worn each day.  I am still working on the best place to take these pictures where the light is right and the colors show well, but I know I haven't perfected it yet.  I think it is still better to share now though, rather than having nothing to share at all.  Hopefully I'll get better over time.  And I may not always share EVERY detail of every outfit, especially if I've worn it before and posted here about it, or if the details don't add much to the outfit, such as boots/shoes covered up by jeans.  So if there is something I left out that you want to know, just comment or email me and I'll try to answer.  So, here are some of the outfits I wore this week in South Carolina, during the last week of February.

Again, I mostly wear jeans and shirts for work, so this is one outfit I wore to work.  I was kind of going for just casual and comfortable because I've been kind of sick this week, so not looking the best hair and makeup-wise, but you can still see the outfits.

Outfit details: 

Dark Emerald Green Shirt with scoop neck and design, flutter sleeves

Brand: Elle must have tee, Size-Small, Store bought at: Kohls

Khaki colored long sleeve feather weight cardigan

Brand: Unknown, Store bought at: Burlington Coat Factory

Jeans: American Eagle/Artist 

Here's something I wore for exercising on the treadmill.  Exercise outfit with pigtails and everything! :-)

Outfit details:

Nike RUN shirt, dry fit, bought at Kohls / Tek Gear Black capri dry fit pants bought at Kohls / Saucony running shoes bought at Academy Sports

Here's another work outfit.  This pink sweater and cream tank top ruffly shirt with rose details on top used to be one of my favorite outfits to wear.  Looking at it here though I think it just makes me look kind of blah.  This one might be for the next yard sale!  I'm sure this blog may start making me reevaluate things I thought looked good on me.  Maybe it will get me to clean out my closet, which is desperately needed! :-)

Outfit details: 

Black dress pants-Brand: Apt 9, Modern Fit, Size 12 (needed a bit roomier fit this day, feeling yucky!)/Bought at Kohls

Dark Pink Sweater - Brand: Decree, Size M, Bought at JC Penney

Cream ruffly tank with rose swirl details on top - Brand: Miss Chievous, Size L, Bought at- JC Penney

This is another casual work outfit from this week.  I like it with the sweater over the tank, but I posted pics of the tank by itself too just so you could fully see the tank, as well as the back of the jeans.

Outfit details:

Tank-Blue/Purple/Teal design w/cream crochet detail on front/Brand-Sonoma/Size-M/Bought-Kohls

Sweater-Turquoise/Teal color/Brand-Mossimo/Size-L/Bought-Target

Jeans- Brand: J Crew/ Size 8 (Have had forever, one of my favorite, classic pair of jeans)

Another work outfit - I was feeling a little better, feeling a little more stylish, so I added the scarf and tall boots today.

Outfit details:

Grey sweater - Brand: Merona/ Size-L /Bought-Target

Scarf - Brand: Vera Wang/ Bought-Kohls

Jeans- American Eagle/ Boyfriend Fit/ Size-10

Black Boots - Brand-Croft & Barrow/ Bought-Kohls

Fashion Find at Kohls - Mint Green Shirt

This may be a first of many posts with the exact same title . . . if you haven't read any of my posts yet or before, I will tell you Kohls is one of my favorite places to shop for clothes!  I just am able to find so many shirts, especially, that I love there and that I feel fit me great and flatter my body type.  (And in case you aren't the same body type as me, Kohls also has petite, plus size, & maternity clothes!  Maternity clothes - that's a whole other post that I hope to get to someday.  Not that I'm planning to be pregnant again, because I'm really NOT! Ha ha!  But I did buy a lot of my maternity clothes there as well when I was pregnant.  Maybe I can find some old pictures with me wearing some of their maternity styles at some point to help any of you who may be pregnant and still want style!)  I also love Kohls because it is one store where I can usually find clothes for the whole family that I like.  One stop for everything saves time too!  :-)  Kohls even has great finds for your home as well.  Home & Decor - another post I may need to get to some day.  The ideas are endless on this style stuff!!!!  :-)  Kohls usually has great sales and I always get coupons in the mail.  For my shopping trip on this particular day, I had a 30% off coupon, plus received an extra 15% off when I checked out, and the top was already on sale before the coupons!  So enough about why I LOVE KOHLS!

Onto my FASHION FIND at Kohls and what this post is really about.  This is the mint green top I referenced in an earlier post that I bought with the purpose of wearing on my marriage retreat trip with my hubby:

Outfit Details:

Shirt:  Mint Green color with short bell type style sleeves with lace overlay on front and banded at waist.

Brand: AB Studio

Style:  Mint - Loving Lace

Size: Large

Store Bought At: Kohls (February 2014)

Price I Paid:  $14.63 (Regular Price $38.00, On Sale for $26.60, With 30% & 15% off for total of 45% off!)

Jeans (Already in my closet):  

Brand:  American Eagle

Style:  Artist

Size: 10

Store:  American Eagle Outlet 

Boots - Dark Brown (Already in my closet):

Brand:  ipanema

Style: Jennifer

Size: 7 1/2

(I don't remember the store I bought at, just have had forever!)

I will also share two more views of this outfit, because maybe someone might be curious about what the back of this AB Studio shirt from Kohls and the back of these American Eagle Artist jeans look like on a real person!  So, here goes my bravery in posting this angle!  (Remember, be kind if you comment, but again, I want to share what things look like on real people, not just models!)

And after wearing this shirt all day today at the marriage retreat, I can say it is very comfortable and would be a perfect addition to someone's wardrobe, whether for an everyday style or a somewhat special occasion where you can dress it up with some dress pants or nice earrings if you prefer.  I will classify this outfit as everyday as well as a special occasion, since I wore it today for what I considered a special occasion (but you will find that most of my "special occasion" outfits are fairly casual and comfortable too, that's just my style preference!) :-)  I did see that Kohls carried this exact same shirt in a pale pink rose color too that was very pretty.  There may have been some other colors too, but I only remember the pale pink rose colored one for sure.  So, what do you think of this simple, yet pretty Fashion Find from Kohls?  

Why I Blog about Clothes and Style preferences - READ

I blog about my clothes and style preferences, not because I think I look great in everything, but because I'm an average, everyday, real woman, wife, & mom who shares things that have a positive impact in my own life in the hopes to have a similar positive impact in another woman's life. I hope you find a style or idea here that you might like to try yourself too. 

We all feel better about ourselves when we take the time to look the best we can, from the inside out as well.  For me, keeping my body and mind fit are just as important as taking the time to put together an outfit that you can feel confident in.  So, I plan to also share some of my exercise clothes styles that I wear when I work out.  

And keeping my mind fit?  For me, I am a born-again Christian and spending time in God's Word regularly helps me to remember that although I enjoy clothes, fashion, exercise - the most important thing to clothe myself in is love, trust, and confidence in my relationship with Jesus.  I'm not perfect and struggle with my own body confidence issues. So, the things I share here about myself requires transparency and openness.  Above all the fun of fashion finds and real everyday mom styles, I constantly remind myself of one of God's promises to me:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  How precious to me are your thoughts, God!  How vast is the sum of them!  were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand-when I awake, I am still with you." - Psalm 139:13-18 (ESV)

I pray you, too, will remind yourself every day about how God sees you, and how He has a perfect plan for your life.  Email me if you would like to know more about the real God I serve and I would be happy to share more with you!

I'd love to hear your comments. Thank you for respecting me in your comments you may leave here. And remember, my goal is to build other women up, not to tear down.  


And feel free to share this blog or posts from this blog, but link back to this site when sharing.  Please remember, all content, including pictures on this site are not to be used without my permission.

Thank you again for reading!

School Pick-Up Style & Short Out-of-Town Trip Style

Of course, not all my posts on this blog will be of new clothes I have bought, because my budget doesn't afford me new clothes that often.  So, much of what I post will probably be clothes from my closet already.  They were clothes that were bought at one time, however, and if I can remember the store I bought it at, I will reference it for sure.

This outfit is what I wore on Friday to pick up my son from school . . . it is a bit more dressy than I might usually dress in for school pick-up, however, right after getting home on this day, I was leaving for a marriage conference with my husband, so I wanted to look cute and be comfortable for our short out-of-town trip as well.  (We were just going an hour and a half out of town, or I wouldn't have normally worn this much of an "outfit" for a long trip either.)

Outfit Details:

Short Sleeve Sweater Wrap:
Brand:  Sonoma
Size: Small
Store Bought At:  Kohls

Tank Top with pink & cream colored floral/swirly design and crochet details on top:
Brand:  Sonoma
Size:  Medium
Store Bought At:  Kohls

Jeans:
Brand:  Lauren Conrad
Style:  Madison Slim Boot
Size: 10
Store Bought At: Kohls

Boots:  Merrell, Vera Mid Barnwell style/color, size 8, bought at TJ Maxx a couple years ago

Here's a side and sort of backside view of this outfit so you can see that the jean pockets are just plain, which I like, with no design, so I feel like it draws less attention to that area.  :-)  You can also see the short sleeve sweater wrap is higher cut all around, which is why I'm wearing a longer tank top underneath.

Fashion Finds from TJ Maxx

As I mentioned in my beginning post, I had the opportunity to go on a short shopping trip today. Again, not a lot of money in the budget, but I did just do our taxes and we got back a small refund so after proportioning out some things to put the money towards in the "needs" category, I had a little left over that I appropriated into the clothes category, otherwise known as the "wants" category. Plus my husband and I are getting ready to go on an overnight Marriage Retreat with our church tomorrow night, so it can't hurt to look a little nice and fresh for your husband on a marriage get-away, right? (I even found a couple shirts for him on this trip)  Onto my shopping trip finds!

First stop was at TJ Maxx. TJ Maxx has always been one of my favorite stores for purses, accessories, and shoes. I have ocassionally found some luck with shirts there, but not always. Today I found . . .

1. A purse, which could also be used as a type of small weekender bag. It is bigger than I like to carry on a normal every day basis, but good size for our weekend trip for the marriage retreat or even for trips around town with the kids when you need to carry a few extra kid-item things. A drink, a snack, or even a pull-up for my still potty-training 3 year old daughter could easily fit in this bag. I also liked it because my regular sized ipad can fit in this, along with any books I may want to bring along for reading. Another bonus to this bag is that it's a fresh, bright, pretty Spring color - kind of like a coral/pinky color. I'll try to capture the color of it in the picture the best I can. And of course the best thing about any big bag/purse/weekender tote is that it has lots of pockets! Pockets on the outside and inside, and best of all, it zips at the top so none of your belongings will fall out! So, enough about all the reasons why I love this bag, here are the details so you can go get yourself one and try it out yourself! My local store had another one in the same color I got as well as a beige/taupe color one, also nice for Spring time.

Store Bought At:  TJ Maxx
Brand: Tyler Rodan
Details: Montauk Tote in Fruit Punch
Paid:  $39.99 (compare at MSRP $99.00)

2.  Black Flat shoes also found that I'm wearing in this picture.  I've never found a pair of flats that are comfortable and don't hurt my toes, but these are really comfortable and cute, I think.

Store Bought At:  TJ Maxx
Brand:  White Mountain
Details:  Black Moondance
Size Wearing:  8 1/2 (I normally wear size 8 in shoes, seems like I needed to go up one size in these)
Paid:  $24.99 (compare at MSRP $40.00)

3.  Black and White striped long sleeve shirt.  I'm still not 100% if I'm keeping this top or not.  I like it, but feel it may be too form hugging on me.  Opinions?

Store Bought At:  TJ Maxx
Brand:  Green Envelope - Los Angeles
Details:  Made of 48% Polyester, 48% Rayon, 4% Spandex
Size Wearing:  Large
Paid:  $12.99 (compare at MSRP $24.00)

Here's one more picture of me in it:

*Jeans I'm wearing are ones I already owned.
Brand:  American Eagle
Details:  Favorite Boyfriend fit, Average length, Size 10

So, those were my Fashion Finds from TJ Maxx today.  I only made one other stop today, which was Kohls (probably my favorite store where a majority of my clothes come from), where I also found a cute Spring top in a minty green color.  It's really cute, I think, but I'll have to wait to share that find on my next post.  Must get to bed so I'm ready for all my Mommy duties tomorrow!  Fridays are my day off, and I get to spend them with my little 3 year old daughter, and then get to spend the afternoon after school with my sons too, ages 10 and 7 1/2.  Looking forward to it!  Oh, and looking forward to a night away with my handsome hubby too on our marriage retreat this weekend.  :-)

My Outfit:

Shirt: Red & Black multi floral/design
Brand: Daisy Fuentes
Size Wearing: Medium
Store bought at:  Kohls (Fall 2013)

Boots: Black, Size 8
Brand: Croft & Barrow
Store bought at:  Kohls (Fall 2013)

Jeans:
Brand:  American Eagle
Details:  Straight Leg with Super Stretch, Size 10
Store bought at:  American Eagle Outlet store


Until my next chance to share my real mom style with you!

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The Beginning of Real Mom Real Style

This is something new. Something I'm attempting to do for myself and for other moms out there who are real like me, but still desire to have some style in their lives. I've always enjoyed clothes, outfits, putting things together. However, I've never really had much opportunity to spend a lot of money on clothes. Nor do I have the most in-shape, slim body, especially after 3 kids! But even before kids, I've never been considered small. I'm tall at 5'8", with muscle, and not petite. The petite genes from my mom went to my sisters. I inherited my height and build from my dad's side of the family, I believe. Oh, and I also have hips, big, wide hips. At times I've been an athlete in my life, a runner in highschool, and off and on since then. So, today I had the opportunity to go shopping and I went online before I went to check out some different clothes available at some of my favorite stores. Of course I found some clothes that looked great . . . on the models. But how would they look on a normal, size 10 woman, such as myself . . . with big hips? So, I began another search for pictures of real women, real moms in certain jeans. Guess what? There wasn't much out there!  So, that's when this idea for this blog came into my mind. What if I could share on a blog pictures of myself wearing real clothes, showing pictures taken from different angles, yes, maybe even the backside angle. (We'll see how brave I am for that one when the time comes.) But how neat would it be if I could help another real mom find real style? So that when another mom does a search for pictures of real moms wearing real jeans, perhaps this blog of mine will pop up eventually? That is my goal here. All of my ideas are still forming, but this is a start. I will learn as I go, and I hope in some small way this venture will help another real mom, just like me, find some real style they enjoy and can feel good about themselves wearing. Thanks for stopping by to take a look!  Here is what I wore today for work (I'm lucky I can dress casually) and to go on my shopping trip today.

Outfit Details:
Shirt:  Polka Dot shirt (one of my favorites) by Lauren Conrad, bought at Kohls a year and a half ago or so
Lightweight sweater/wrap: Cream colored, Brand: Mossimo, bought at Target a few years ago
Jeans:  American Eagle Straight Leg with Super Stretch, bought at American Eagle Outlet store a year or so ago
Boots:  Merrell, Vera Mid Barnwell style/color, size 8, bought at TJ Maxx a couple years ago
Necklace:  Probably bought at Kohls sometime :) Most definitely where most of my clothes/accessories/shoes come from

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