Clothes and Vegas...

Hi Y'all!

       We are leaving for Vegas soon, and I am SO excited! Last night, I decided to go through my closet to see what I am going to wear at night when we go out while we are there.  What did I find???  NOTHING!
Let's be honest...  I am a stay-at-home mom, so other than the gold shirt I got during my Thrift Store Wardrobe Challenge, I don't exactly have the Vegas type wardrobe.  I also live in Portland, OR, where it's acceptable to wear jeans and a sweater to nearly everything from getting married to getting buried.

Now with it being the holiday season, and all of the expenses that come along with that, I am on the hunt for glitzy garments on a budget. Besides, I like to spend my money at the roulette table! (Holler back Lucky #33 Black!) Here are a few things that I have my eye on. I will be going shopping this evening to see what I can find. Hopefully I'll find some great holiday sales! What are you wearing to your festivities this season?
            ~Betsy

Forever 21 

metallic top - $17.80

(with jeans)

Forever 21

sequined sheath dress $32.80

color color color!! This will be awesome with my boots!

Nordstrom

h.i.p tunic champagne tunic tank 

$19.90

Old Navy

sheer seamed yoke top

$19.97

I need jewelry and heels to dress this one up.

Target

Mossimo crocodile embossed clutch 

$16.99

Helllloooo!!

Target

perforated grey clutch $29.99

I really love this one because it fits nicely on the edge of a black jack table. ;)

I'm Back!

Hi Y'all! I'm back!

         Sorry for the looong pause in blogging, but this time of year has me so busy! I feel bad about it, but sometimes blogging ends up being just one more thing that I have to do. :(   Bad Blogger??  "Present!"
Anyway, I will try to be better this week. Promise! :)

Now... What do you think of this?!? I was out holiday shopping yesterday, and came across this "beauty" at the store? My first thought was Only in Portland... (eye roll)  I don't think so though. My guess is that these type dolls are for sale all over the country. This "My First Baby" is supposed to be "trendy". I think she looks  a little Britney Spears meets punk rocker, but I also think that she's a little riske' for a First Baby Doll. Maybe I'm just getting old... I just hope my 3 year old daughter doesn't want eye makeup with dramatic hair streaks anytime soon, and I definitely don't want her to think that being pretty means purple lipstick!  Thoughts anyone?

Holiday Giveaway on Dot Dot Dot...

Hey Y'all!! Friend over at Dot Dot Dot... is having an amazing holiday giveaway!! She is a giving away a lot of great things to add to your holiday swag! Head on over, and you just might get lucky!!

~Betsy

Folding Laundry Fail...

Hi Everyone! I'm getting a little bit of a late start blogging this week.  I had such a fun weekend! I got to go out with the Hubs to a fun party, and had just enough relaxing. I can't post pictures of the party because, we were hanging out with a few of our favorite people from Portland City Hall, and I have a "no pictures of public officials" policy. Ha! They weren't doing anything. It's just out of respect for the people in public positions and their staff. :)  It was a great time though! Then I spent Monday hanging out at home doing laundry. Ugh! I can't stand folding laundry! Example: 

This is my laundry room... 

(Notice the laundry on the counter)

This is what comes out of my laundry room...

(Yikes! I took this picture with my phone.)

  

Grumble Grumble Grumble.... Look at this laundry pile!!! Every time I procrastinate folding laundry like this, I swear that I will NEVER do this again!  Let me say it again... I hate folding laundry. It's not that I hate washing laundry. I just don't like stopping and standing in one place to fold for 30 minutes, and I can almost think of anything that I would rather do. I stay on top of it for a while, but then I'll have a busy week or something. This is when it ends up getting completely out of control, and we are digging through baskets of clean clothes looking for shirts and underwear. Then when I finally can't take it anymore... I take it all out into the living room, and dump it on the couches to fold. Only now instead of it taking 30 minutes, it takes over 2 hours! (with constant interruptions from a 3 year old) Geesh! When am I ever going to learn!!  This cycle has to be broken, so I am now pledging to to random people of the blog-o-sphere. "I Betsy will now fold as I go!!!"   How do you manage staying on top of your family's laundry? Do you fold as you go? Do you have a "laundry day" every week?  I would love to know!

             ~Betsy

Friday Faves

Hi Y'all! Here are a few things that I have been loving this week. I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Plain Fat Free Greek Gods Greek Yogurt + Hidden Valley Ranch Dips = Snack Heaven!

I recommend eating this with whole wheat pita chips, but you decide. :)

Dear Santa, This year I want these compression calf sleeves for running. Thank you!

The Waves.  

With all these rainy days in Oregon; it feels good to let the hair go wavy! 

This hair color. 

Deck the Halls...

Hi Y'all!!  I haven't written in a few days because life has been busy this week! Phew!! Not much exciting going on, just busy days. The holidays are coming, and I have been doing a whole lot of online holiday shopping instead of blogging. We celebrate Christmas in Idaho with the Hubs' family. This means that holiday shopping for the kids has to be done online, because they are too old to get away with stashing presents in the car anymore.  All gifts to be wrapped and placed under the tree on Christmas Eve. I LOATHE wrapping all gifts at one time. I am not a good wrapper, and it just takes forever.  It's really fun the next morning though!!

All though we celebrate in Idaho, we still put a tree up at home because it's really fun for the kids. Oh, and because I L.O.V.E my our tree! Some people like to fill their houses with different themed trees. Example: My sister has 4 (yes 4) Christmas trees in her house this year! Not me. I like to have one tree that I  can perfect over the years. Besides, taking all of those trees down sounds like hard work! Ornaments, lights, and stuffer fillers. Oh my! Sorry, I'm dorking out. Anyway, Here are some pictures for you, because I know that you have been dying to see it. Ha!  I keep waiting for department stores to contact me to decorate their Christmas trees at the mall, but I haven't gotten a call yet. Just kidding...  but seriously... that would be such a fun job!!!  Call me Macy's!!  ;)   ~Betsy

Our Candy Tree!

Viva Las Vegas...

Hi Y'all! I'm back from Idaho full as a tick, and heart happy from getting to spend a few days with family. There was plenty of food, kids, laughs, shopping, and a big bonfire. It was great!  :)

One more thing that I am SUPER happy about is... Last week, The Hubs surprised me with a trip to Las Vegas next month for our 10 year anniversary!! I'm SO Excited!!  We used to go to Las Vegas once or twice a year before Katie was born. We had some really fun times, but that 2nd child thing started eating into our Las Vegas funds. Ha! She's totally worth it though. :)

There are so many things to love about Vegas, but the things I love the most are gambling, dressing up, shopping, beautiful hotels, people watching, good food, etc...  I also love how the days and nights last so long that you can hop over to Vegas for 3 days, and feel like you squeezed a weeks worth on vacation into them.  We haven't been since May of 2008. 4 years ago!! We used to always stay at the Hilton, but it's now the LVH, so we are staying at The Aria.  I can't wait!!! Hmmm... What to wear?? My wardrobe isn't exactly very "Las Vegas" these days. Oh well, another "first world" problem for another day.
Here are a few pics from past trips to Vegas.

We look so young! Have I really aged that much in 4 years?!? Oh well, all the lines on my face are from smiling. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  ;)

We even took Ryan once!

Days at the pool

Lunch with girl friends

Lunch with all friends

The sibling trip to Vegas

At the LAS

My Love