Mandii's Muse

Since I shared with you the more casual Christmas outfits, I wanted to share with you what I wore for our Christmas Cantata and Christmas Eve service at church. Christmas Cantata: Believe it or not, you can wear your bridesmaid dress again! I wore the blue tunic as part of my very, very dear friend’s bridesmaid dress. I adapted it by not wearing the slip that goes underneath, and added black leggings, and a black tunic. Because it has a higher neckline, I opted to not wear a necklace. I added some fun druzy earrings, and my replica Duchess of Cambridge wedding ring to give me some sparkle. I completed the outfit by wearing my blue suede booties. Tunic: Free People Tank: Wal-Mart Leggings: Lane Bryant Booties: K-Mart Here is a similar one from Amazon! Christmas Eve: I repeated my sparkly reindeer shirt from the week prior. I paired it with black leggings, black booties, and simple jewelry.

I wanted to share with you a roundup of the Christmas outfits I wore this past week to work, and out and about. Now you know my theory on outfit of the day ideas. I will tell you where I got the items that I remember, but they are probably out of stock. Remember, I want to give you inspiration, not the exact pieces. Monday, I had a couple of doctors appointments so I wanted to wear something comfy, but still festive. I wore my buffalo plaid flannel. I cannot get enough buffalo plaid this time of year! I paired it with a black tank, jeans, and black booties. Flannel: Old Navy Jeans: Sam’s Club Tank: Wal-Mart Booties: Dillard’s Here is a similar one from Amazon! Tuesday, I wore my Fa La La shirt/tunic. Fun fact about this tunic-it is actually a sleep shirt! You’d never know right?! I wanted to be comfy, so I paired it with black leggings and black low booties. Tunic: Lane Bryant Leggings: Lane Bryant Booties: K-Mart Wednesday, I wore all the bling. This top is one

I hope you find yourself surrounded by family and friends today, celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. Christ's birth in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. May the spirit of the season fill your hearts as you celebrate.

With Christmas days away, I wanted to share with you a quick make ahead breakfast menu that doesn’t leave you in the kitchen while everyone else is opening presents. I have shared these recipes before, but if you are hosting family, these would be great to have on hand. First on the list is Brunch Egg Casserole . This is what I am making for my family this year. It is quick, simple, and you can make it the night before. Plus, you can choose your meat you want to put in. I’m using sausage, but you could easily add in ham or bacon depending on what your family likes. If syrup is more your flavor, you can make the easiest French Toast Casserole . This can also be made ahead, and popped in the oven in the morning. I like to use my homemade French bread for this and shingle the slices. (The picture I have is before I decided I liked this method.) I add a streusel topping to mine, and it is positively delightful! If you have places to go on Christmas morning, and need something sweet,

The holiday’s have everyone up early, and up late. I wanted to share with you my favorite long wearing products that will help your makeup stay put from morning until night. The first product is a long lasting eyebrow product. Before I get started, I am probably the last one to try this product, but I have been loving it! The Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade is such a great long wearing product.  I was skeptical at first because of having to use a brush to get it on. I like my makeup routine to be simple, and the thought of having to use a brush just screamed time sucker. However, I was wrong. I can put this on at 6:00 in the morning and my brows will still be looking great at 7:00 that evening. My shade is the Taupe shade, and it is also the same shade I use in the ABH Brow Definer. The next product I want to share is an eyeshadow product. The Mally Eyeshadow Stick Extra is a fantastic longwearing product. I applied it at 5:45 in the morning, and it did crease on me, but I

I wanted to share part of my Holiday home tour with you. I’m starting off in my favorite space, my bedroom! It is just the coziest spot, and I can’t wait to just lay by the light of the tree after a long work day. My Nutcrackers are gifted to me by my grandma, and my collection keeps growing.  This reindeer came from Kirkland’s and I love how it looks on my door!   I can’t take credit for this, my mom does all the magic on the trees.   This is on my dresser, and the snowflake candle holder is from Wal-Mart. The taller ones are from Kirkland’s, and Injust have battery operated votives in there. I have a Christmas book that I have been reading in a picture easel as well.   This is my inspiration corner. This is where I have my devotional, Bible, and wax warmer on there. The canvas is lighted, and I got it through a company that comes and sets up a display at work.  This is my favorite spot in my house. I will be back to show you more of the house in another post soon!

Tuesday was my birthday. I truly had a wonderful birthday week. It was celebrated with my family, and lots of cake. Monday, I went out to dinner with my parents at our favorite restaurant. I had a free dessert voucher from them, so I had the ho ho cake which we all shared. Tuesday, my actual birthday, I went and got my nails done with my mom. Then I went out to dinner with my parents, aunt and uncle, great grandpa, and grandparents. We went to our favorite burger place, and again, had more cake. Haha! Finally on Saturday, I had my birthday party at the house with my family again! This year we had sausage sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, dirty rice, coleslaw, and the best cake ever. It was fantastic! I was able to open presents, and got my traditional nutcracker from my Bubba, and my traditional Snow Baby from my aunt and uncle. She also gifted me a plate from the antique collection that I started collecting. If you know me, you know that I collect Nutcrackers, and SnowBab

I wanted to share with you what I wore to church a few Sunday’s ago. The weather hadn’t turned frigid yet, so I was able to wear this outfit and not freeze. Plus my church likes to keep the thermostat on “volcano” level, so it was perfect. I wore this LuLaRoe Julia dress that I bought a few years ago. I paired it with brown tights, and the most comfortable pair of brown booties. So simple! Again, I like to give you inspiration, not necessarily the exact pieces. No one likes a carbon copy of themselves! I can’t wait to share with you some Christmas posts I have coming up! I have a home tour, long wearing makeup that I’ve been loving, Christmas outfits, birthday recap, so many good things! I can’t wait to share it with you all! Stay tuned!

Outfit of the day posts are always so hard for me because I'm not a "current shopper." Sure I'll shop, but most of the things I wear are a year or two old, and probably not available online. I wanted to share with you this outfit though, because it is something that you could easily recreate today. I like to give you ideas, not necessarily the exact pieces. Maybe you have something in your closet that will inspire you to recreate this look! I just paired this brown Aztec type cardigan with a light brown ribbed tank top. I have dark denim jeans on, and brown suede booties from Ross Dress for Less. Similar Cardigan Dark denim jeans Booties P.S. I'm sorry for the work bathroom mirror picture. It's the only way I can get a decent outfit picture with good lighting. 

I wanted to share with you a look back into a previous post about gift giving. We all have those people who you should get them something, but don't want to break the bank while doing so. This post was published on December 3, 2013 but I think the ideas are just as cute today! They are simple, inexpensive, and too cute! Enjoy!