Lauren From Texas

I’ve been looking for a pair of skinny jeans to wear with boots for approximately 47 years, but haven’t been able to find any that don’t make me look like J.Lo with toothpicks for legs. Not too long ago, I noticed someone tweeting about Jean Straps, & was intrigued. I could wear my regular jeans tucked into boots without readjusting constantly?? Yes please! So I emailed Jean Straps to ask if they would be interested in a review, & they agreed. Last weekend I decided to put them to the test.

The concept of Jean Straps is that you attach them to the bottom of any pair of jeans, virtually turning them into stirrup pants, and they keep your jeans tucked snugly into your boots.

The last time I wore stirrup pants was when I was about 12. I wore them with a side ponytail, an oversized T-shirt, and bedazzled Keds. I don’t really want to talk about it.

I just solved the Mystery of Bigfoot! She lives in my bathroom.

Sorry about the terrible lighting in my bathroom, it’s my least favorite thing in life. I’m always all “Did I just put on blush or eyeliner?” Anyway, you get the general idea.

So I wore them Friday evening & all day Saturday. Friday night they were perfect & I never even noticed they were there. I loved that I didn’t have to mess with my jeans. Usually I’m tucking/pulling/tugging/sweating/really close to taking my pants off & calling it a day. Saturday they got a little uncomfortable while shopping & walking for a long time, but that was probably because the jeans I wore were a little on the short side so the straps were slightly pulling on my arches. Also my boots are comfortable but maybe not comfortable enough to wear for 12 hours straight.

At the end of Friday night, everything is still intact! Jean Straps = success!

Pancho & Leia love Jean Straps!

My verdict is: if you don’t own/love skinny jeans, and/or you want to wear your normal jeans tucked into boots, buy a set of Jean Straps. They’re really reasonably priced (only $9.99!). I plan on trying them out with my cowboy boots when I go to the Rodeo in March. Yeah girl!

It’s Thursday night. Did you hear me? IT’S THURSDAY NIGHT. That means right now I am watching the Office. It also means tomorrow is Friday and then it’s the weekend! Furthermore, I can now eat solid foods. SOLID FOODS! This is almost too much excitement for one post! I ate two grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch yesterday. TWO. And today I ate a Classic Combo from Chick-fil-A, and I don’t know that anything has ever tasted so delicious. Since I am in such a good mood, what with the SOLID FOODS and everything, let’s play “Something Old | Something New”!

A few weeks ago, I got my hair done, and only posted one measly picture. BUT WAIT, then I made high and lofty promises of posting more pictures! Well, here they are. Better late than never.

Here’s what I wore today. I actually took these pictures a little while ago. It’s after 9pm and I have had a LONG day. I probably looked better earlier, before I was overwhelmed by fatigue and my makeup started to smudge. But guess what? I didn’t take pictures earlier. Deal with the fatigued smudginess.

I had a couple of appointments today, so I am a little more “dressed up” than usual. I think you know a) you work from home, and b) you should probably get dressed up more often (or maybe just take a shower daily) when you get semi-dressed up and your husband FREAKS OUT and won’t stop commenting on how good you look and/or following you all over the house trying to make out with you. Not that that happened to me or anything.

This is my new favorite hair style. It takes about 5-15 minutes, depending on if my hair is wet or dry. Either I use a blow drier or let it air dry, then take a curling iron with a big barrel (2″ I think) and curl all the layers under. Yesterday night, for my mom’s birthday dinner, I parted it down the middle and flipped my bangs out. I wish I would have taken a picture. My brother said: “Your hair looks good. Did you do something different? It looks like Farrah Fawcett. Isn’t she the one who died?”

Here’s a better picture of the layers. So easy to work with! When I’m in a hurry, I let it air dry and spritz a little John Frieda Dream Curls Curl Perfecting Spray to bring out the waves.

I topped my sleeveless blue turtleneck and brown pinstriped pants with a goldish cardigan for my appointments. It was a little chilly today and I thought it looked more “professional.”

Note: I am in desperate need of a camera. Photo Booth and iPhone pictures are only getting us so far.

Come to think about it, nothing about this outfit is new, except my haircut, and even that is about a month old. However, I would like to point out my fabulous diamond earrings; they were a Christmas present from Michael for our 2nd Christmas. I love it when jewelry has meaning or marks a milestone.

Speaking of milestones (worst segway/segue ever), is it just me, or has The Office been HILARIOUS this season? “DON’T CALL MY MOTHER YOUR LOVER!”

OK, time to snuggle.

In case you haven’t noticed (because you are a) blind, or b) don’t read my blog AT ALL), I’m kind of a mess. I like to think that I’m organized, but truth be told, I have more “junk drawers” in my house than is healthy. Open my kitchen cabinets and risk an avalanche of pots & pans. My eyebrows are dangerously close to holding hands in the middle, I’m in desperate need of a pedicure, and so many things in my pantry have crystalized or taken a different form that I should really have my own geology exhibit.

Take this blog, for example. I’m not organized with it. AT ALL. Oh, I want to be. I have the highest of hopes. I think, “As long as I blog every other day, I’m doing OK.” But that doesn’t work for a perfectionist. It works on the days when she has dazzling ideas, but on the days she doesn’t, she sits on the couch and bites her nails and watches DVR-ed Biggest Loser and tries not to think about that fact that she hasn’t blogged for THREE DAYS. Are people still looking at her blog? Will people still like her?! DO PEOPLE EVEN STILL USE BLOGS or has there been something else invented since the last time she blogged?!?! Also, she talks about herself in third person. It’s an illness. I’m a sloppy perfectionist. I want things to be done perfectly, but if I don’t have the time to perfect them, I just don’t bother. Which is probably why I’m in therapy.

Recently, I have been observing some of my more favorite blogs. I have noticed that, for the most part, the bloggers seem to have a pattern, a rhythm. A PLAN. Maybe Monday they blog a recipe. Tuesday they blog something fashion-oriented. Wednesday is about design. You get the idea. The weird, OCD part of me loves that idea. The unkempt, disheveled part of me NEEDS it. So, I am introducing myself to a “blog schedule.” It will be like a regimen – as Julie Powell said in Julie & Julia, “It’s like AA.” Anyway, I’ll be starting it next week. Because I am a procrastinator, and I can’t stand starting something new at the end of a week. Kind of like when people say “I’ll start my diet on Monday” so they can eat donuts at the office on Friday. This blog post is my donut. Hopefully this new structure will kick my butt into shape, figuratively speaking. I’ll let Jillian continue to work her magic on my literal butt.

Speaking of Jillian, I cannot allow this blog post to pass without talking about the season premiere of The Biggest Loser. Let me say this, before last night (I watched it a day late, because that’s how I roll), I had never seen an episode of The Biggest Loser. I met my blog friend Chelsea earlier this year, and thought, “Wow, this girl blogs a lot about that show where people lose weight. I wonder why.” Then she brought it up one day in an email, and I was all, “Never seen it.” Apparently, that is sacrilege, and before I knew it, I had committed to watching the first two episodes of the new season. The agreement was if, after those 2 episodes, I didn’t like the show, I could quit and we could still be friends (we’re very dramatic). Well, I DVR-ed that sucker and finally got around to watching it last night. I am not going to recap the whole show, because Chelsea did a good job of that in her blog post yesterday. I will, however, say that I was CRYING within the first 15 minutes of the show. It’s really touching to see people who love their families so much and are so determined to get healthy. Also, it’s pretty hilarious, because Jillian yells a lot and people puke. HOW CAN VOMIT NOT BE HILARIOUS? OK, maybe that’s just me. Also, if you do the 30-Day Shred, it makes you realize that Jillian could be much, much meaner to you. Like, if she were standing over you yelling f-bombs and telling you she doesn’t care about your pathetic excuses. While you cry and vomit at the same time. See? Things could be worse. Quit whining about the Shred. But seriously, try Loser. If you don’t like it, we can still be friends. (But I will think less of you as a person.)

Here are a couple of the text messages between Chelsea and I that transpired while I was watching the show:

Me: “Let’s get fat so we can go on the show together.”
Chelsea: “You’ll change your mind once you see how Jillian treats them.”
Me: “I don’t know how you watch this with Stephen. Michael is not here but he would be mocking me.”
Chelsea: “I enjoy it more when I watch it alone. I can cry and eat M&M’s.”

I also texted my mother, who gave me a confidence boost:

Me: “Do you watch The Biggest Loser?”
Mom: “Not lately.”
Me: “I am watching it because I am a loser.”
Mom: “Did you tape it?”
Me: “Yes.”
Mom: “OK you are a loser.”

Then I drowned my sorrows in leftover Chinese food. There’s nothing like watching a show about weight loss while stuffing your face.

Alright! Glad I got that off my chest. Here’s a sneak peek at Thursday posts on the new “schedule”:

Something Old | Something New

I’ll post my favorite outfit of the week, and maybe just random things (new & old) that are currently making me happy.

Example:

I bought this dress a couple of years ago and loved it. Then I washed it and it shrunk. It’s still long enough to wear alone, but it’s kind of flimsy. Flimsy + short isn’t always a good combination. The other day, I was at Forever 21 and picked up these black leggings:

Perfect! I am sad to say I wore this today with silver flip flops. A fashion travesty. But then I carried my Coach purse and it made everything alright. I need some plain ballet flats – all of my flats are either patterned/embellished or a non-neutral color. Because I’m flashy like that.

I am OBSESSED with vintage rings. I’ve been collecting them for a few years. This was one of the first ones I bought. I got it for a dollar at a booth in Canton – but sometimes I like to pretend that it used to belong to Doris Day. The stone is oval and the color of smoke. Probably one of my favorite pieces of jewelry.

I’m drawn to oval and teardrop shapes, and am a fan of simple and understated jewelry (although I do like a nice glitzy piece every now and then). These earrings are marcasite and I stole them from either my mom or my sister, but I’ve had them for so long the law of reclaiming has passed and they’re mine forever. That’s how it works, right? And yes, that’s my engagement ring/wedding band – my husband has good taste.

I have been trying to give my hair a break lately. Washing, drying, styling, and highlighting really takes its toll. So today I let it air dry and added a little John Frieda Frizz-Ease Take Charge Curl-Boosting Mousse. It left all the natural wave but took away some of the frizz. I like how it turned out, but my favorite part is the minimal damage to my hair.

So there you have it. I’ll try to do a post like this each Thursday. Let me know if you have any products you want me to review or looks you want me to try – I’m always game for trying something new or different!

Also, once a week I am going to try to answer a few questions that have been asked either in my blog comments, on Twitter, or sent by carrier pigeon (I’m really not picky). Please feel free to fire away! No question is too personal. Well, probably, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

xo