5th of July

So this is my actual outfit (The one sleeve pulled up was a surprise to me...what is that all about?) -- We didn't get a picture until 10:30 at night and I even started the day out exhausted after a night of all the children waking repeatedly. So when I got dressed I put on this t-shirt because it is the one I put on when I want to be comfortable in every way. It is from my friend Liz who bought it for me in Korea when she and her husband were teaching ESL over there. These t-shirts are hilarious because they have completely nonsensical combinations of English sayings on them. This one has trees printed on the front and back. The front says, "Good things happen when you go for it!" And the back says something unrelated (which I would find out for you except it's in the washing machine right now and this is the only time I can do this post since The Cat in the Hat is on PBS right now and it is my half hour of quasi-parenting. The skirt is the same re-fashioned Old Navy jeans. No shoes -- I think I wore the Reef flip-flops to PetSmart earlier in the day. My hair? Just a messy braid. I'm actually wearing very pretty pale green glass and silver earrings that Brad gave me as a gift a few Christmases ago. But we couldn't be organized enough to get a close-up -- Brad had to stop in the middle of doing church finance stuff to take these (and he still had to finish that up and take a shower before bedtime -- and he tries leaving for work at 6:30 every morning so...basically, he's awesome to even take these photos, right?).

Here's a tiny glimpse of the pretty earrings from Brad...

But what if I had been wearing an outfit like this? Would I have felt more cheerful and given more happiness to my kids and husband? Would it have been like keeping a smile in your pocket that broke the spell of the chaotic moment? Maybe. Anyway, I don't own this awesomely Sarah-perfect A.Cheng Dress.

I could wear this with the red Saltwater Sandals -- They would be perfect together.

And for dressier (or gloomier days) I could wear this belt...

But this one would probably be more my style and better for everyday...

But this dress from Shabby Apple's new nautical line is so so so cheerful. I adore it. I would like to dress like this...But I would wear either flat sandals or red mary janes...or these Seychelles or Frye shoes that are on my long-term dream list: