Todays Look

 Army Green Striped Sweater-JC Penny-last year.

Black Pants-George(Walmart)-have had these a long time.

Army Green Wedge Loafers-Not Sure, probably Target-had them years.

Sweater Details, Brass buttons on the shoulder.

Over all, I like this outfit. This is the sweater I totally forgot I had because it was shoved way in the back behind all the others. It's actually very comfortable. A little thin, but would be great layered over a long sleeved T-shirt in colder months. I love the pants, haven't worn them in a LONG time but will be definitely wearing them more often. Were almost as comfy as sweats and dressier!! The shoes I didn't end up actually wearing. Hubby and I went out for errands and I wore my fallback Black Dr. Scholls.(They are kinda like Dansko clogs)

Oh and in other good news I lost 2.8 lbs this last week. I mentioned earlier that I've been in a Get Fit Kick and it's starting to pay off. Go me!!

What I Wore Today

Yep..back to posting outfits hopefully. I  have found myself in sweats WAAAYYYYY too much lately. Between living in Wisconsin and just wanting to hibernate come fall, and dealing with my husbands work schedule, I find myself spending way too many days in sweats. Especially the last couple of months. CDR is on the night shift, which means he leaves in the afternoon and comes home early in the morning. I get up about an hour or so later and just throw a t-shirt and sweats on quickly so as not to disturb him too much. Then I stay out of the bedroom until he gets up , which isn't until around 2:00ish or so. By then I feel like why bother changing? Especially since now I'm on a Get Fit kick as well and do my workout right after he leaves for work. I have all these beautiful , cute clothes just sitting in my closet and I'm hardly wearing any of them these days! So THAT has GOT to STOP! I'm not going to do any kind of 'Official" Challenge or anything. We all know how well THOSE go..I manage 3 days and then forget or drop off the face of the earth. So NO promises. But I do plan to start actually getting 'dressed' each day. Sometimes I think I should do one of those NO SHOPPING challenges, but again I don't really want to commit to anything. I have been shopping MUCH less these days. I don't really feel like I NEED very much anymore. Like I said I have a huge closet FULL of many nice things. I'd like to at least wear some of them before buying more. Yesterday I made the decision to try. I decided what I need to do is pick each outfit the night before and have it all ready outside our bedroom. That way when I'm ready to 'get dressed" (I'm not usually ready to be 'dressed' when I first get up, I like to 'ease' into it) I can without disturbing CDR's sleep. And it was funny because while I was rooting around in the Closet to find my outfit for today I came across ALL kinds of stuff I totally forgot I had.....some never worn!! Like those little short suede Desert Boots that seem to be in this fall. I was just looking at a few Fashion Blogs earlier in the day and wishing I had a pair. LOW and BEHOLD ..I DO!!!!! I totally forgot that I bought some a couple months ago at Target!! Never even more em yet. They are part of today's outfit. I didn't actually wear them today either as I didn't go anywhere , but I had them out , just in case. And I did wear them for my pic. I also found a sweater I bought last year and only wore once and totally forgot. I Plan to wear it tomorrow. And those were just the tip of the iceburg, I found sooo much more!  So on to today's outfit. I will probably cross post this to my Style Blog. I'll mostly be posting OOTD there but will occasionally cross post them here too.

  Pink Cowl Sweater-Old Navy-bought a few years ago.It's hard to see in the pic, but there a front pocket on this , kinda like a sweatshirt.It's super comfy.

Brown Cargo Skirt-Target-recent Goodwill purchase.

Brown Tights-Willow Bay-couple years ago.

Suede Desert Boots-Target-recently.

The tights were actually very uncomfortable, the fit fine in the legs but the panty portion of the tights were too tight and also didn't come all the way to my waist and wanted to roll down. I suffered in them until CDR got up, but then changed to a pair that fit perfectly. Over all the outfit was comfortable and I felt good in it . It still had that slouchy just hanging around the house feel but I looked a little cuter!The shoes only stayed on long enough to take this picture..LOL

Here is what I REALLY wore all day:

JMU Doctor Who 500 Miles

Had to share! Drama Teen is the one in the Brown Suit!

Where Oh Where did MaggiiBleu go??

I know , I know, I did another disappearing act! I've really been wanting to blog again , but then keep putting it off because there's just so much to share. Hopefully in the next day or so I'll put a couple of Blogs up to update all that is going on at Chez Maggii. Keep checking!

What's For Dinner

So Real housewives of New Jersey Season started a couple weeks ago. Have you been watching? OMG! I am totally Team Teresa! How about you? I can't believe what went down at her Brother's Baby's Christianing Ceremony!?? I've always kinda liked Teresa, even though she can be a bit trashy, IMO, and is definately a bit of a Hothead! But her SIL Melissa??? Oh my! Didn't think anyone could be that bad! Can NOT stand her! I'm a little disappointed about all their(Teresa and Joe's) financial issues although I'm not surprised and it's not like she's the only one. Look at all the OC couples. Most of them are in forclosure. They are all soooo living above their means, but for some reason I'm still fascinated with their lifestyles.  So ...what's that got to do with Dinner you ask? Well...the other day I was able to pick up Teresa's new Cook Book, Fabulicious!

 I already had her first one- Skinny Italian and had made a few of the recipes and been quite pleased. So , today I decided to try one from the new book. Pookie's Pesce Primavera. Oh wow. Soooooo good! And, soooooo easy to make.

Got Talent??

Well, apparently Drama Teen Does!! ( Of course I already KNEW that!) She's one of 3 finalists that will be performing live in the  Harrisonburg TV Studio tomorrow.

Another Friday Favorite

This surpasses all the Lilly in the world as my ALL Time Favortie! It brought tears to my eyes.....That's my very own Drama 'Teen"!!!

Friday Favorites

 I thought I'd share some of my favorite things on Fridays from now on. I would have to say my all-time Favorite of anything and everything right now is ANYTHING Lilly Pulitzer! OMG! I fell in love with Lilly about a decade ago when I read an article about her in a Magazine( I think it was Towne and Country) At the time I'd have loved to own any of her dresses but they are a little on the steep end and at the time I didn't feel I could afford them. But, I signed up for her catalogues and dreamed of all the dresses I could get if money were no object. I would say I became obsessed back then, but I am now fully in the throws of obsession! It started with my first "Lilly" purchases on e-Bay about 5 years ago. Then I found a cute 'Lilly' skirt at Marshalls. I laid low for the next few years. But last year I started scouting "Lilly' on e-Bay again and started finding some REALLY cute stuff at good prices. And finally a couple of months ago I just started buying it full price online! Hard-core, I know!! One of the things I love is that every so often they have 'gifts with purchase", so I like to take advantage of those. You are able to get limited edition items that can't be bought. Today I am completely in the throws of a complete and total Lilly Wonderland Obsession!( Have I mentioned I'm obsessed????) Here is just a sampling of my 'loot':

First is my Nook Color with my Lilly P cover. I LOVE this thing. It was one of my Christmas gifts this year. I had an I-touch with the Kindle App that I had been downloading books onto and it was 'ok', but really small to read on, so I asked for the Nook this year. It took a little sweet talking( actually after pointing out the Pool Table, Ping Pong Table and Treadmill CDR had bought for himself, he realized I wasn't being overly demanding) so he caved and got it for me. I read in bed everynight while I wait for him to get home from work( he's been on a grueling schedule of working 6 days a week , 12 hours a day-Noon to Midnight-hoping to quit at the end of the year though-he's making really good overtime, and we are building our savings with it so he can quit)

 These cute plastic cups..I drink my water and juice out of them everyday....

 I got this adorable little cushion on e-Bay when we first moved in......it makes me happy, especially on these gray, gloomy days.

 My agenda, and a journal........make me happy to greet each day!

 A small sampling of the dresses I've been collecting. Most from e-Bay.

 And finally......This adorable cutie was one of those "Gift with Purchase" things. It came with my last regular order. I've noticed people selling these on e-Bay for upwards of $40!!! I plan on keeping mine though!

This is just a small sample of my Lilly obsession....Stay tuned for more as I'm sure there WILL be more posted about this in the future(since I'm obsessed and all).

And here are a couple of "Lilly" blogs I'd like to share as well:

A Colorful Blog - the Official Lilly Blog
The Juice Stand -hosted by one of the Via Stores(also where I got the Cute Print at the Top of my post)

So Domestic...

So ...inspired yet again by a Facebook/Bloggy friend!! Today's offering: No Bake Cafeteria Peanut Butter Bars. I got my inspiration today from my FB friend Tracy who also has a blog. The actual recipe can be found here. They were extremely EASY and QUICK to make! And hopefully they should be just as Yummy(which could be a dangerous thing , as I might be inclined to make them like EVERY day!!)


All you need are these ingredients:

 Just dump them in a Microwave safe bowl:

 Stir the mixture after mocrowaving for about 2 minutes:

 Spread in a 9x13pan:

 Microwave the choc. chips until melted and spread over the peanutbutter mixture:

 And Voila!! No Bake Cafeteria Peanut Butter Bars!!! Again, Actual Recipe Here.

Oh and I guess the Apple doesn't fall too far from the Tree! Enjoy this cute funny vid of my baby girl baking Brownies with her friend!

Quiche Inspiration

Often times my Dinner Menu is inspired by Bloggy and/or FaceBook friends posts. Tonight was no exception. One of my Facebook Friends posted a recipe for a Quiche she made recently and I remembered how Simple and Easy Quiche can be. Not to mention I almost always have ingredients on hand to make it. So tonight was a Quiche night. I did need to buy some veggies for it the other day, though. I bought a small container of cut up mixed veggies in the produce dept of my favorite grocery store.

I started with a ready made Pillsbury Crust(that I've had in the fridge for a while now and needed to use) .

I decided to saute the mixed veggies so they cook up softer in the quiche. I just sauted them with a little bit of Olive Oil Spray. Very Healthy!!

Then added the veggies and some sliced up Deli Ham to the Pie Shell...Mixed 4 Eggs with about 1/2 cup Milk and a few handfuls of Swiss Cheese(one thing I love is being able to just guestimate the ingredients) . I also mixed in a dash of Paprika, Tumeric, and Adobe Seasoning. Poured that over the Veggie/Ham mixture and Sprinkled some Parsley and Chives over the top.

Baked it in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Came out perfect and tasted GREAT!

Florida Vacation

Hubby has been working crazy these last few months and I hardly ever get to see him. So when my my bestie invited me to join her and her husband in  Destin, Florida I jumped at the chance! Her husband is here on business and she came along with him, but has been bored spending her days alone here. At the same time the Recruit has actually been down here for some Air Force Training in Pensacola  and has a Graduation Ceremony on Tuesday, so I've been able to spend some time with him(he came over for the weekend) My Bestie will be attending the Graduation with me. I'm obviously having a BLAST here. Hanging at the Beach and the Pool in this gloriously hot weather(it snowed two days before I left Wisconsin!Ha!)

Happy Birthday Bruce

Today my Brother Bruce would have been 42. I still miss him so much. I keep expecting the phone to ring and hear his voice. I miss those calls so much. Here he is with his truck and three of his kids(plus a couple extras I have no idea who they are). This was about a year before his accident.

From Left to Right: My nephew , My Brother Bruce, kid I don't know, my niece , my niece ,and another kid I don't know.

Bamboo Pink!

I have become involved in the launch of a new jewelry company called Bamboopink by Jude Frances (check them out at www.judefrances.com).

Over 13,000 women (and men) have signed up across the nation in only three short weeks. Come see what all the BUZZ is about…..

Bamboopink is a new fashionable, yet affordable jewelry line made and designed by a JudeFrances, a famous, high-end designer whose current line is sold in upscale department stores, is all over the red carpet and worn by Oprah and the likes! Bamboopink has already become one of the fastest-growing women’s internet start-up companies in U.S. history! This company is the first of its kind -- an internet launched company and we will be given our own websites, apps, and technology for virtual trunk shows…so all of this can be done from your own home and without hosting parties!

What sets this company apart from other direct sales companies:

* GROUND FLOOR opportunity --- probably won’t ever happen to you again! Everyone with a business background knows that the FIRST people in on a start-up company are the ones that make the money!!!

* Strongest comp plan in the industry!

* Very successful “designer” multi-million dollar jeweler making/backing this jewelry --- basically guaranteed to be successful!

* Instead of growing one sales rep at a time, we can grow hundreds of sales reps at a time with this innovative business model and free sign-up period – but the time to do that is NOW!

This company is exploding over the internet as we speak --- over 13,000 people have already signed up nation-wide -- Don’t let this opportunity pass you by!

It’s simple to sign up, go to my site: https://www.bamboopink.net/maggiibleu As soon as you sign up, I will send you an email with tools and tips so you can start building your team just as I have!


Sign-ups are free for a limited time, with no risks or obligations…..just an OPPORTUNITY to take a “sneak peek” at this company, watch it unveil, and decide if it’s something you want to be a part of (you can walk away at any time if you decide you aren’t interested!) The company is still forming and “unfolding” as we speak….this is your chance to get in on the GROUND FLOOR!!! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! And you can win fabulous jewelry and other prizes just for signing up and getting your friends to sign up!


This is an AMAZING, once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity by private invitation only --- I hope you will consider joining me!

A Little Bit of Color in my Day

I've been craving color lately. Probably something to do with all these cold grey/white days. I love to treat myself to some flowers every week or so. It's just something I do for myself. My favorites are Roses, in Bright pinks, Corals, and Yellows. Last week I went with Bright Pinks and Yellows for Valentines. This week I fell in love with these Coral Roses and mixed them in with some more Bright Pink ones. Now Flowers can be a bit of an expense, but I really think it is worth it. You can get less expensive ones. They don't always have to be Roses. I also love to get Tulips and Daffodils in the Spring. Or even Flowering Plants(which I also got for myself last week for Valentines-they'll last longer) They might be a frivilous indulgence but it really lifts my spirits to walk into the kitchen and see them. It just adds a little
Brightness to my day and helps me to anticipate the coming of Spring!

Survivor Rant

Yes...this is one of my guilty pleasures. I like watching Survivor no matter how idiotic some of the players are. But  ..why oh why do some of these people only wear underwear under their clothes..I mean hello?? you know you're on this show...you know you're probably going to be stripping down...it's going to be hot...you'll be in water a lot.....why woudn't you just wear a swimsuit of some sort under your clothes?? do they think they look good prancing around in Flimsy or Droopy undies???

Oh ad if I hear Mr. Droopy Pants anounce that he's a "Secret Agent' one more time I think I'll SCREAM!!!!! We know ...we heard you the 4th , 5th, and 6th time. You're a Secret Agent!! Great for you!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

 A little bit of Valentine's in our home!

Another New Year!

Where has the Year gone??!! A New Year , a Fresh Slate, A New Beginning! I've been thinking for the last week what My 'catch' word or phrase for the Year will be and I've landed on "Renewel" ...This year will be all about Starting over...Getting Back to Myself and How I always wanted to Live and/or Be. Getting back to a Healthy Weight. Getting back to my Routines and Getting Back to my Passions( Art and Crocheting etc.) Getting our Bank Account back up after all the expenses of building this house. Working on old relationships and making them stronger, and making NEW friendships too.

I'm really looking to making this a year of Self-Improvement most of all. I want to be Healthier, Happier, Kinder, Calmer, more Productive, more Organized and just plain "Better' than I was before.

Day 6,7,and 8..

It's been a busy weekend. Saturday the Drama Teen(who is no longer a Teen) flew in from Virginia. And on Sunday we had the Family Christmas Celebration at my Mother in Laws.

So Here are the outfits for the last 3 days.....

Sunday:

Dress-Tucker for Target

Belt-not sure

Tights-Apt 9-Kohls

Boots-not sure..Payless? maybe..

and here with a Cardigan from H & M. I got it last year.

This is the first time I've worn this dress even though I've had it for a couple months...this is one of my problems...I buy things and hang them in the closet or shove them in a drawer and forget about them. Or save them to wear for a special occasion that never really materializes.....So I finally found a special occasion to wear it for. Christmas at my Mother In Law's. I LOVE it and felt wonderful in it. I don't usually wear belts either, but they seem to be 'in' these days and I've been wanting to try using some. I loved how this belt worked with the dresss. I actually tried a different one that I got from Anthropologie. It was stretchy and had a flower closure...but it wouldn't stay clasped and then finally just fell apart...I'm kinda ticked because it wasn't cheap and I expected more from Anthro.

Here we are at my Mother In Laws. Me , the Drama Teen and the Commander with our  Godson.

 Monday:

 Gray Old Navy Sweater-had this a few years.

Levis-Have had for YEARS.

Monday was a relaxed day that I really didn't want to 'think' about what I'd wear. This is an outfit I wear all the time. I have a couple of these Jeans, and a few similar sweaters that I usually just throw on without thinking about it. I'm trying not to wear too many of my 'go to' outfits too early on. Want to make sure I have a few fallback outfits for days like Monday.

Tuesday:

Sweater Dress-JCPenny

Leggings-Not sure..Shopko? maybe

Another lazy want to lay around in my pajamas type day. It snowed last night. Commander has the day off and we just hung out at home putting our Christmas presents together. Just wanted to be comfy. I got this dress earlier this fall and again, haven't worn it yet. Didn't really like the fit.. It's a little too body concious. Shows too much. So at this point it's definitely an 'at home' only outfit.

P.S. These are NOT the same leggings from the other day....luckily I have a few pairs of Black Leggings.

Drama Teen and Commander spent most of the weekend assembling these.....

Day 5-No Repeats

Another busy day. Commander decided we needed a few more gifts for a few more people...so although I 'thought' I was done, I had to venture out  today....on a Saturday....during the Holidays.....the last weekend before Christmas! I wasn't thrilled! As much as I HATE shopping during the Holidays(especially on weekends) I HATE driving on icy , snowy roads even more....and in my Wimpy "Southern" Truck( has rear wheel drive-soooo not good on snowy , icy roads.And it doesn't like the cold so it stalls at every stoplight!Ugg)So anyways ..that has been my day. Now I'm cooking up a Sweet Potato Casserole for our Family Christmas Celebration at my MIL's tomorrow. And hopefully later tonight we'll be picking up the Drama Teen(who's not a 'teen' anymore) in Milwaukee...I say 'hopefully' because her flights been delayed out of DC now, for about an hour and we're not sure she'll make it to her connection in time.

On to today's oufit:

Plaid Tunic-Gift from the Co-ed last Christmas.

Gray Sequined Sweater- I think it was from Target-YEARS ago.

Dressy Denim Trousers-Target-a few years ago.

Socks-not sure, I think I got them at Goodwill(they were still in their package)

I like the top , it's comfortable and I love the colors. I've noticed that Plaid Tunic type tops seem to be popular on a lot of the Style blogs so I think I'll hold on to this one. The Gray sweater I've thought of giving away a few times. It's pretty but just doesn't fit right. Of course, sequins seem to be 'in' right now too, so part of me wants to keep it...but I'm just not sure. Love the pants, used to wear them ALL the time. Lately they've been forgotten in my closet. Definite keepers though. Will wear them often once the Challenge is over.

I did some shopping today and made the mistake of wearing these Gray Suedish Flats...NOT a good idea when the parking lots are all Dirty Slushy Wet Messes! I'm not sure I really even like these shoes very much anyway. They were cheap Walmart Slipons and I'm just not crazy about the way they feel and look. They're comfortable but they feel too much like I'm walking around in Slippers, which might seem like a 'good' thing to some people but I'm not really into them.

 Later , if and when, I get to pick up my daughter from the Air Port in Milwaukee I think I'll wear these.I can't remember where I got them...Payless? maybe? They have a little bit of heel but are pretty comfortable.