Skirt as a top

 Happy Monday! I hope your holidays were amazing! Mine certainly were:-) Can you believe this is the last Saturday of 2013? My holiday season has been full of blessings. I got a Nutri Bullet for Christmas, so green smoothies here I come! I usually start each year off with spring cleaning, which means donating clothes. I came across a hi low skirt and debated on if I wanted to keep it or not. I try my best to stay away from items that are too trendy because sooner or later they end up in my donation bag, but sometimes clothing items can be worn multiple ways. I looked at the silhouette of this skirt and thought it would work fabulously as a top. Now thats what I call fashion recycling! Completely remixing a high low skirt is a great trick, especially if it has a nice looking pattern.

My hi low skirt now has a new life as a top that I can layer. Have you ever worn your skirts as a top?

It seems like my fingers are naked when I don't have a ring on of some sort. Are you like that?

Cardigan: New York and Company, Hi Low Skirt: System, Bag: c/o Mimi Boutique, Boots: Macys

This is the way I originally styled my skirt over a year ago. You can see more of this post here

This has a different vibe when worn as a top and I doubt I will wear this as a skirt anymore. I am not feeling the high low hemline anymore. I prefer classic and timeless, but I do love to have fun with trends every so often. So how are you feeling about hi low skirts and dresses these days?

I love the detail on this bag. It is the perfect color to wear with just about anything and it has such a luxe look. I love it! If you are not familiar with Mimi Boutique. You should become acquainted with them real quick because you will love everything on their site. Check them out here

I love riding boots and they are always so super comfortable.

I love hoop earrings. Really really love them

So, how are you liking my skirt as a top?

This handbag has great craftsmanship. Mimi Boutique truly has some amazing accessories.

Have you ever recycled any of your clothes in a clever way?

The Best Sugar Cookies Ever!

 There is nothing like a great sugar cookie. My son and I always bake them on Christmas Eve, but they are delicious any time of year. Buttery, sugary and soft or crispy, they are the swiss army knife of cookies:-)

This is a fail proof sugar cookie recipe and absolutely scrumptious!

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.

In a medium to large bowl, cream butter and sugar until well combined and smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and gradually beat in dry ingredients. Use a teaspoon to scoop out dough and roll into small balls. Flatten with your fingertips or the bottom of a glass.

Bake 8-10 minutes and let set on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes

Bon Appetit!

Holiday Snapshots

 I really love this time of year. Ever since I have been a mom, the holidays have taken on  new meaning. I believe in the importance of family traditions and the new tradition I have started with my son is to attend the Breakfast With Santa event, which is a nice upscale brunch for children to enjoy lots of delicious food and spend time with Santa Claus. Some of you may remember that my son and and I attended last year and I blogged about the experience. The venue experienced triple the amount of visitors as a result of that blog post. You can read last years post about Breakfast With Santa here

This is a picture heavy post, so I hope you don't mind looking at lots of photos of me and my mini me in the midst of our holiday season.

We have other traditions like visiting Candy Cane Lane to see all of the homes decked out in holiday decorations and our Christmas Eve tradition of baking cookies and watching Christmas cartoons and movies. Did your parents have holiday traditions with you as a kid?

I didn't go with a traditional holiday look, but I still think my outfit was festive:-)

I love the way bright colors look against animal print. What colors do you like to pair with it?

My son is looking dapper in his suit:-)

This event is magical for children and it is important to never forget how much we loved this holiday when we were children. Kaden is so happy to see an elf:-) And she remembered us from last year. Awesome!

He is looking over in anticipation. 

starting to smile and he can't contain it

The biggest Kool Aid smile as Santa gets closer to our table

And he got a little nervous:-)

There was lots of delicious foods like these yummy waffles

Breakfast Potatoes

Fluffy Eggs

So much great food

As delicious as all of this food was, My little guy was more excited about Santa and his Elfs

Some of the hosts posing for my camera, LOL

Kaden is pointing to the Menorah and Christmas tree below

 This was my son's favorite part next to meeting Santa:-) We had a great time decorating cookies in Santa's Workshop

My son wanted to decorate our cookies with M&Ms

Here are the masterpieces

Enjoying a piece of bacon. It makes everything better, right?

Three generations of love. My mother joined us for our event

What a great time we all had!

Memories to last a lifetime

This is what our Christmas tree looks like in the light of day

This is our tree after dark

Since I am in a festive mood now, I was pretty excited to experience these red velvet pop tarts. I have to thank my blog buddy The Curvy Fashionista for turning me on to these red velvet pop tarts. Have you tried them?

These are quite delicious with coffee:-)

A smile that is priceless! What holiday traditions do you remember the most? Do you have special things you do with your children during the holiday season?

And the Shopping Spree Winner is...

I would like to thank all of you for participating in the Jolly Chic Shopping Spree Giveaway. The winner of the giveaway is:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To the lucky winner, enjoy your shopping spree! To all of my other lovely followers, stay tuned for the February giveaway. Its going to be FANTASTIC!!!!!