Marianne: Weekend Outfit.

 **Did you get some Christmas money? I've listed some fancy stuff in the shop including anthropologie sweaters, a Mackage jacket, Tibi, bags, and more!**

I think it's cute that a couple of you requested to see what Adrien and I wear on a typical weekend. Cute because, y'all. There is a reason we don't show you those, at least on my part. The biggest reason is I usually don't wear makeup unless I'm leaving the house, and in the winter I don't leave the house much. But I digress. Here is a good example of a weekend outfit.

The light was weird so hey, here is my fireplace. And my kid.

Let's start with the hat. Why Marianne, you never wear hats! That's because during the week, my hair is usually clean and on the weekend...not so much.

Just because I slept in this doesn't make it pajamas.

The rest of the outfit I lovingly refer to as Fancy Pajamas. I threw the sweater over it and swapped out my Uggs for my NEW BOOTS because hey, new boots.

The out-of-focus precious.

Yep. I got the Frye Veronica Short Boots that I've been pining for, and it's TRUE LOVE. It's so nice to have something I can pull on, they are flat but not slippery, and basically I stomped around in them for my entire holiday break. You'll be seeing more of these.

Lu, the photographer.

 Lulu insisted on taking a picture, so this is what you get. This is my bare minimum weekend makeup "look", if you can call it that. Concealer, mascara, lip balm, and a little blush. And dirty, dirty hair. Happy New Year!

top: Old Navy Maternity (similar color here and style for under $10 here)

sweater: Old Navy Maternity (similar style on major sale here and similar color here)

leggings: Lisse Slimming Leggings

boots: Frye Veronica Short Boot (similar on crazy sale here)

hat: Old Navy (similar here and here if your hair is also dirty)

Marianne: Cold Weather, Not My Favorite

Y'all, it is COLD outside.What happened? Fall is okay but once it's actually cold I go into hibernation mode and it makes getting dressed...difficult. I'm really determined to not fall right into my rut of tunic sweater + skinny jeans + tall boots + scarf this year.

Totally, totally not the same.

 So here is a sweater DRESS + tights + ANKLE boots + scarf. See? Totally different. This is the warmest dress ever and I just looked a the tag and realized it's maternity. Oops? Well, it fits a non-pregnant person and that just means there is extra stretchy room for pie.

Lu had a lot of questions for me this morning. For example, why do we have to wear coats and sweaters now? Why can't we go swimming? Why is it so effing dark?

I don't know what to tell you kid. Let's get out of here.

scarf: Fred Flare (cute red animal print scarf here,and covetable McQueen scarf here)

dress: Isabella Oliver (similar cozy sweater dress here and cheap version here)

tights: Spanx Reversible

ankle boots: Vince Camuto Hadley (similar here)

bag: Su-Shi Old Skool Mini (another great satchel here and inexpensive version on sale here)

Marianne: The Hair Saga, part One.

My hair has been looking pretty decent lately.

Good Hair.

But I know summer is looming, and summer means wearing my hair up in braids for three solid months. Because summer means humidity and humidity means frizz. OH, THE FRIZZ.

So naturally I was intrigued by the Ion Keratin Smoothing Treatment. I picked it up at my local Sally Beauty Supply for $30, which was a much more appealing price than the $200 salon quote I'd heard. But then, I read the directions. Y'all, this is a PROCESS. To start, you wash your hair SIX TIMES with the special shampoo. Six. Times. That is a lot of times, David. Then, after stripping your hair completely, you blow dry it thoroughly. And then...you are left with this.

Do not adjust your monitor.

 I'M JUST GOING TO LET YOU RECOVER FOR A MINUTE.

Still with me? Because I feel a little faint. At this point, I put my hair in a bun and tied a scarf turban style, and went about my Saturday. Because I did not have a 5+ hour block of time to do all of this crap at once, I had to split it up.

My husband was working that night, so after I got Lu down to bed, I dove back in. In painstakingly tiny 1/4 inch sections, I brushed the keratin solution through my hair, root to tips, taking care not to over-saturate. This took...a while. I started drinking wine and watching episodes of Once Upon a Time. Then I had to blow dry it AGAIN.

One side dried, one side to go.

Still not even close to being done, y'all. Now, in even tinier 1/8 inch sections, I began to flat iron my hair. You have to go over each miniscule section 5-6 times with the iron. Took. FOREVER. Here I am at the halfway point at just before 11:00pm. This was when I Facetime'd Adrien for a pep talk.

Don't give up!

But finally, I finished. And my hair was really, really straight. And long. And Cher-like. I wish I could tell you that I loved it, but I didn't. My hair felt completely foreign, moreso than it ever has after a salon blowout.

I've got you, babe.

The real question for me is, what is my hair going to look like after I wash it (in three days)? I'm dreaming of loose, frizz free curls and waves. Of hair that I can wash and not think about beyond "dang, my hair looks good". So, what happened next? Stay tuned for part two. INTRIGUE!

Onomatopoeia.

P. S. The outfit was my uniform all weekend, a look I lovingly refer to as "kooky part time poetry teacher".

oversized t-shirt dress: James Perse (similar here and here)
footless tights: Assets
bag: Kooba "Lola" (similar- and on sale!-here and here)
sandals: Ann Taylor (similar here and super cheap here)
scarf: eBay (similar here, I like this one even more than mine!)

Marianne: Campfire Girl.

Last weekend I was invited to a really gorgeous dinner party, a "fall party" with fire pits, roasted meats, s'mores, the whole nine yards.

When I came out of our room after getting dressed, Chris said I looked like "a Campfire Girl". Um...okay. I think he meant that as a good thing.

And yeah, I am totally trying to approximate this photo. The sweater's not quite right, but it's so cozy that I wore it all weekend. Go Target.

The shirt is also cozy, but be warned that it runs incredibly small. I mean, I expect to size up with Junior's sizing, but I'm wearing an XL here and it's a close fit.

This outtake is for Adrien. She knows what it means.

denim leggings: LOFT (similar here)

top: Mossimo Juniors Plaid Top

sweater: Target/Merona (not available on website yet)

boots: Donna Karen (similar here)

bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs Mag Bag in Fool's Gold (similar color here)

Adrien: Smoke and Mirrors

I got in a blog-related conversation (with blog rock stars!) at a party last weekend and I talked (too much) about what it's like to pose for outfit photos every single day. In a nutshell: YOU LEARN FAST. I am not photogenic and require approximately 11 billion photos to be taken from which I can pick out the three that don't make me look like Jabba the Hut.

Also, I do this thing where I think my head is on straight but I actually have it all cranked over to one side, like that's cute. (It's not.) Here is a dramatic reenactment of what my early photos looked like:

And here is that same photo after some extensive spinal adjustment and Photoshop:

I also sometimes have, um, attitude problems:

But, Kenny started lobbing peanut M&Ms at me and I straightened up pretty quick:

So really, all it takes is:

• food rewards
• a large memory card
• spinal surgery
• Photoshop (the kind you pay $$ for)
• fear of looking like a slug-alien on the Internets.

Anyone can do it!

dress: Target (similar)
shoes: Chie Mihara (similar)
necklace: Ann Taylor (similar)
bag: Andrea Brueckner (similar)
cardigan: J Crew (similar)
watch: La Mer
bracelet: Stella & Dot 

Marianne: Rainy.

I have a...unique job that require me to sometimes tromp around wet fields at 8 o'clock in the morning. But hey, I love any opportunity to bust out the double braids and wellies.

And yeah...I caved. This jacket was around $40 with a coupon and it's exactly, EXACTLY what I wanted. The perfect weight, a great length, loose and slouchy while still being flattering (I hope).

Paired with jeggings, a tunic-y sweater, and a bright scarf, I felt weather- and situation-appropriate, and pretty cute for a rainy day.

Did I ever tell you about when Adrien found me these Hunter wellies for like $50? She is good people.

Want more outtakes? Here is one Miss Lulu:

If you look closely, you can see that she is wearing a (clean) pair of my underwear as a scarf. Not even two and the kid knows how to accessorize.

jacket: Doki Geki Hooded Anorak

sweater: Love By Design (similar here)

legging jeans: LOFT Inky Blue

wellies: Hunter Original (similar here)

Marianne: CLOGS.

M: OOPS I HAD SOME COCKTAILS AND BOUGHT SOME RED CLOGS.

A: Girl!

M: WHAT.

it was kind of a mistake

A: How do you accidentally buy RED CLOGS.

M: THIS BIG TOE HAS IT'S OWN LITTEL HOME IN THE CLOGS.

I can't even type!

A: Snort.

M: Oh dear dear dear. I don't think they are what I had in mind at ALL.

A: Sorry, I wasn't snorting the clogs, just the toe comment. They look fine! They are pretty tradish clogs.

M: Yeah, but the listing said the heel is over 3" (which I want) but everything I see about that brand says more like 1.5-2 inches. Which feels a little dowdy to me. I want FASHION CLOGS.

Shutup.

Tell me the truth: I look like a middle school art teacher, don't I? I covet some Swedish Hasbeen clogs, but they are millions of dollars. And I still think I want some clogs, just not so...red.

Regardless, these clogs absolutely reek of smoke, so even though I got them for 1/10 of their retail price, they are going back. I think I'll try to get some navy or tan clogs to replace them.

Someone asked to see an outtake photo, so here is one of Buster trying to get in on the action. Oh, Buster.

denim shirt: Gap (similar here)

corduroy pants: LOFT Modern Slim Cords

socks: Falke

CLOGS: Sandgrens