Blue & Gold kind of day

Or is this purple and gold?

Dress: Chaps ($9 at Kohl's - 90% off, y'all!)
Shoes: Kate Spade
Watch: Liz Claiborne
Squinty expression: sheer exhaustion

We did some serious work to our house (still remodeling) and HOLY CRAP am I tired. I'll post some pics of what we did later this week. I'll also consider catching up w/the 30-day photo challenge...which I've clearly failed. :-/

Basic black

I wear a lot of black. This we all know. So when given a $20 gift card to Macy's from a coworker, what'd I do? I scoured the sale rack for a black dress. But I already have black dresses. So I had to find one that was special and I think I did :)

Dress: Nine West

Belt: came off another dress

Flats: Stuart Weitzman





























Cute, right? It was originally $118, marked down to $41, and after my gift card and an additional discount at the register, I walked away paying $15 for this dress. I also picked up a pair of dress slacks for $2.99. Can't beat that!!!! All together I saved 75% off retail.

How'd I get an additional discount at the register? I asked for one. Extra 15% for me! It never hurts to just ask the cashier if he or she has any coupons they could use for you. Being extra nice doesn't hurt, but you should be doing that anyway.

The dress is from the petites section and I rarely even darken the door of that section. I'm short, but I'm not petite. This dress has made me a believer and I'll definitely keep my eyes on that section more. The waist and bust are the right length for me and it doesn't bunch up in the back like most dresses do. It's a smidge shorter than I'm used to, but I think the proportions are right. I just think my knees could use some Photoshopping :D

Here's a close up of the adorable inverted pleats on the dress:

Have you scored any great deals lately?

Day 15: Action

Okay so most of y'all will think this is gross, but it cracked me up. After Day 12's sunflare challenge, I tried to get some more shots of one. Maddy interrupted this one with some action :)

Day 14: Someone you Love

I love a lot of people and was struggling with how to squeeze everyone into a shot (logistically impossible). Then I saw my husband and the cat on the couch. And I melted and fell in love with him all over again.

Day 13: Reminds You of Childhood

This basket of suckers was a welcome addition to the office.

Misadventures in baking

Have you ever read a recipe and thought "Dang. This is too easy to possibly ever work."? I did that twice this weekend. Once worked beautifully and the other failed so miserably I almost cried.


Let's start w/my total failure. Angel Food cake cupcakes. This is the recipe I used:

• 1 cup cake flour {spooned and leveled}
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375°.  Place flour and salt in a sieve set over a bowl; sift into bowl, and set aside.  With a mixer, beat egg whites on medium-high until foamy, about 1 minute
2. Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form.  Continue to beat, gradually adding sugar; beat  until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.  Add vanilla; beat to combine.
3. Gently transfer egg-white mixture to a large, wide bowl.  In four batches, using the sieve again, sift flour mixture over egg-white mixture while turning the bowl, use a rubber spatula to fold in the mixture by cutting down the center and coming up the sides.
4. Gently spoon batter into the cupcake papers-no need to spray with cooking spray, the cupcakes will not stick.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes-until cake is golden and springs back when lightly pressed.  Cool cupcakes on racks.

Sounds easy enough, right?

NOT.

I think my fatal error was in the egg whites. I'd read on some food blogs that you could easily swap out egg whites for the Egg Beaters egg whites. Saves some $ and saves some time. Win win. Again, NOT. I carefully measured 36 tablespoons (3 tbsp per egg white) and folded (with success!) and made the batter. Baked them 15 minutes and they looked like this:

And they tasted like egg. Nothing but egg. Guess who HATES eggs? Me. So that was a total and complete failure. Well, wait. I take that back. It's not a total failure because Al LOVES EGGS and thought these were okay. I sent them to work with him this morning to eat with some jam. Not gonna let them go to waste!

But want to know what wasn't a total cooking failure? No Knead Bread. There are tons and tons of blog posts written about it so take the time to Google it and be amazed. It's very hands-off but you have to baby sit it a little. Not so much, though, that I won't be making a loaf every week now. I got a little side tracked visiting w/friends last night so we got home late. Which means I baked my bread late. Which means at 1am I was slicing off a piece of bread to eat b/c there was NO WAY I was going to be up at 1am baking bread and not eat a slice. It's perfection. So so good and reminds me a little of sourdough bread. I can only assume it's b/c of the fermentation of the yeast. Anyway. You have to try it b/c it's awesome.

And look how pretty it is in a dark kitchen w/a cell phone camera:

I cannot wait to get home tonight so I can eat more!

Day 12: Sun Flare

Not sure if this really counts as sun flare, but here you go:

And as an added bonus, a rainbow!

Day 11: Silhouette

I took this picture out back in our garden. Al was unloading some composted manure and I was supervising :)

Day 10: Animal

It's impossible NOT to share a ton of photos w/this one. Between a dog and a cat, we have lots of critter photo ops. However, we get some guests from time to time. Like this little fella who was outside our kitchen window:

Let me zoom in a little for you...

Is that not the most precious thing ever? I was almost late to work b/c I just couldn't pull myself away from the window. He (or she?) was so cute to watch.

Speaking of cute...

This little turd will be the death of me. His sheer cuteness is all that keeps me from killing him some days (though I wouldn't REALLY kill him. I just threaten it). There are about 5 minutes in the day where he's so sweet and snuggly it makes up for all the times he's bitten me.

Day 9: Fresh Fruit

This is a major fail. haha I might have had fresh fruit, but I also had the cookie the fruit cup is sitting on too. YUM!

Day 8: Sunset

I've gotten a little behind w/these and am playing catch-up today - my apologies for bombarding you with posts!

We have some of the prettiest sunsets. I'm not sure if it's b/c I'm just THAT in love w/our place or what, but I think they're prettier there than any other place.

Day 7: High Angle

I'm always amused by the floor in the elevator at work. The building is old and run down, but the elevator has a great floor.

Day 6: Books

Al likes to read 6-10 books at once. It drives me nuts, but there are worse things a husband could do.

90% off? Yes, please!

Y'all know how I love a sale. I've been eye-balling this sweater at Kohl's since January and it FINALLY went on sale for 90% off. Paying 80% off was clearly just too much for me :)

Sweater: Dana Buchman @ Kohl's 

Jeans: Seven @ DressBarn

Unseen tank: Old Navy

Flats: Kate Spade

Bag: Michael Kors

Sunnies: Target

The light and exposure on this photo is a little off, but that's what I get for taking just one pic and hoping for the best. I really love this sweater and for $7.60, wish it came in every color of the rainbow. The keyhole at the top is crazy low if left unattended. I wore a solid black tank underneath just to err on the safe side. Don't want the boobies hanging out ALL the time, right?

Day 5: Breakfast Today

Breakfast today was much like every other morning: coffee.

Day 4: Clouds

Saturday was mostly cloud-free in Louisville. It was hazy and cloudy earlier in the day, but of course I didn't think to take a pic then.

My daddy had open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve on Friday (hence the aforementioned busy weekend). This pic was snapped out his hospital room window. That's Indiana over yonder ;)

Daddy's recovering nicely and should be home tomorrow or Wednesday. He'll be much more comfortable then despite the excellent care he's received at the hospital. Nothing sleeps like your own bed, right?

Day 3: Hands

I had quite the busy weekend, so I'm playing catch-up with these posts :)

In the 21 months Al and I have been married, I've not taken off my wedding band. It wasn't for any reason in particular, I just hadn't done it. After a while, it became a matter of principle. I took them to the jeweler to have the rhodium plating refinished and my finger felt naked. So I tired a ribbon on it :)

The after. Looks like new!!!!

And as a bonus, I tried sprouting lentils last week. I let them go a day or two too long and they are sprouts AND roots :) Whoops!

Test

Test

Grey and totally out of my comfort zone

So far, my ploy to get myself to post more often is working! If I was already taking a pic of my shoes, why not the whole outfit, right?

Sequin cardi: Vera Wang for Kohl's
Striped tank: Lands' End
Grey legging? Grey slim pants? Dana Buchman for Kohl's
Pewter pumps: Cole Haan

Okay so these pants? I'd normally never pick them up or even think "Hey, super tight pants would look great on my cellulite!" But at 80% off? I'll give 'em a whirl. These were $8.80 and at that price, if they didn't work for work, they'd be great around-the-house pants. They're a nice, thick fabric and it doesn't cling to my fat - success! They also have some well-placed seams so they're almost slimming. The only thing I can't get out of my head is Michael Kors on Project Runway lamenting how insane the crotch of a pair of pants is. The crotch is super wonky on these. It gives me faux-toe if I'm not standing just right. Classy.

I did buy them two sizes bigger than normal and I'm 100% certain that's why I'm comfortable in them. They're fitted, but they're not too tight and don't pull. Also probably the main reason the crotch is baggy and sketchy. These are similar to what I bought, but not exact.

Have you worn anything out of your comfort zone lately? Details, please!!

Day 2: Favorite Shoes

These aren't my absolute favorite shoes (those are the Louboutins I wore at my wedding), but they're my favorite wear-to-work shoes:

They are Cole Haan Carma OT Air Pumps in pewter. I snagged them at the Zappos/6pm.com outlet for $50 or 60. I wish I had them in every color and that they'd always be $50 :)

If you ever are in the market for a well-made, comfortable pair of heels, I highly recommend Cole Haan w/the Nike Air technology. I stomp around in these for a full work day and they've yet to ever hurt my feet.

Day 1: Self Portrait

Y'all know how much I love taking pics of myself. hahaha This is a pretty terrible pic as it's grainy and what-have-you, but it is what it is.

30 day photo challenge and some changes

So obviously I don't post here daily, weekly or even monthly sometimes. I need to get back into the habit of snapping daily pics, so I'm going to do this 30 day photo challenge that some of my favorite bloggers are doing. I hope it'll get me back into the habit of taking daily pics. I'm also going to start keeping my camera in my purse. The prospect of GOOD pics has to help, right? :)

I also plan on posting more, in general, on here. My original blogging partners have busy lives and keeping up with this blog is a lot of work for us all. Cute on the Cheap is going to be more of a personal/fashion/food/home remodeling blog now. I hope you'll stick around! Look for a blog redesign soon too! If it looks like crap around here for a while, have faith it'll be cleaned up shortly :)