This will be my FINAL POST until NEXT YEAR! Har, Har, Har!

Okay. I'm done now.

The man and I are actually LEAVING THE HOUSE this year. Like Charlie Brown in the Halloween special, we got invited to a party (and I'm pretty sure it wasn't by mistake). The invite requested people "dress nice" and since our hostess will be dolled up like some kind of drunken disco ball, I tried to find a suitable frock.

Sadly, most of my awesomesauce dresses are from the pre-kid era--I swear I don't know how, but my rib cage has grown since I had children. I'm serious! Of course, squeezing out a couple of puppies does bizarre things to your body--at one point post-children, I weighed less than I had pre-children but STILL couldn't fit into the pre-kid jeans. Everything kind of moves around and shifts and redeposits itself and you're left with a bunch of clothes you can't wear but refuse to part with because they're just that adorables. 

Anyway, I'd wanted to wear this hot hot hot turquoise blue silk Chinoiserie dress I've had for many moons, but due to my expanded rib cage issue, I can't get the side zipper to close beyond my waist. Serious bummer. And until I can figure out how to either (1) make the dress more accommodating or (2) make my ribs smaller, it will remain in my closet.

But I'd already made this nifty little clutch that matched it:

So a-shopping I did go. I couldn't find another dress I liked, but I did find this top for $7 at Plato's Closet:

And it fit. But I really hated the buttons--these little cheap, pearlized plasticky things. They had to go.

Luckily, I found a 5-button card of nice black ones at Joann.

And now, I have a fantastic shirt for $8.

Happy New Year to Me! And to you!