halloween, and a double spotlight

 i'm pretty sure joy marshall wore this exact same outfit one october day in 4th grade. and now, 23 years later, i have finally become cool like her (i was in 3rd grade that year - and thought she was stylin' then - and then NOT for 20+ years - and now again ;). i have been wanting to wear this outfit for a couple of weeks now - i mean, i found this orange sweater, blue shoes, and silver belt (now altered & turned into a necklace) all on the same day at Savers, and just finished adding the buttons to the legwarmers... they were begging to be worn! i kept almost wearing it, but felt too "costume-y" when i  thought about it. so then, i thought perfect! halloween! no one will actually think i'm wearing this because i 

like it - they'll think i'm dressing 80s for halloween!! so please, don't think i like this outfit. think halloween costume - in fact, i realized afterwards that it's a blue minidress, a rainbow, and a star on my cheek away from Rainbow Brite!

 first, the necklace. yes, it used to be a belt and was all silver. now it has my added special touch of awesome with a piece of an old 70's-yellow polyester curtain sewn on behind the rose

 and the legwarmers: i told you that vest didn't stay a vest! i took the felted sweater and cut it up, sewed it, added a button of each color, and now they are this. and they're gonna be for sale at the boutique, too! as much as i LOVE them, i just don't know how many other days of the year i can come up with an excuse for looking like rainbow brite. maybe you can!

 aren't these shoes wonderful? i was packing today for my trip to honduras (we leave friday aaaghhhh!), and realized i could wear these shoes with all 8 outfits! heck, yeah, packing light! (ok, don't tell, but i have 4 other pairs of shoes packed, too) they are so comfy, and you can't even tell they're 2 1/2 sizes too big! ;D

 ok, last thing. the cutest chicken you'll ever see. this was the only shot we got of him actually facing the camera, so it will have to do; but it truly does NOT give his adorability justice. come see us in real life & i'll put him in it, and he'll run around the house saying excitedly "I a chicken! I A CHICKEN!!" (he's still working on his state of being verbs - he's not even 2 yet, ok?? ) and then you'll know real cuteness.
my friend, jessica, and i always talk about how we accidentally dress our boys and ourselves in the same colors, and don't realize it until we're out & someone mentions it or whatever. how in the WORLD did i come up with an orange and white outfit this day??? i would never have guessed i even HAD an outfit that could possibly match my little chicken... and no, i didn't realize it until we were walking into "The Great Pumpkin Bash" hours after getting dressed.