365: Day 9

365: Day 9 by stacywill featuring black booties

fringe & fur

fringe & fur by stacywill featuring an ivory vest

365: Days 7 & 8

365: Days 7 & 8 by stacywill featuring a cable sweater

Fall 2012 Fashion Week Favorites//Street Style

So I may be a little late here, but I wanted to post a few of my favorite looks spotted outside Fashion Week in New York and Milan, among others. These are looks I'd wear myself if I had them! :)

365: Day 6

Hi everyone who's reading! Since I'll be busy tomorrow preparing for our Halloween party, I thought I'd post tomorrow's outfit today. Tonight is full of writing catch-up while my hubster takes the boy to get the big sister from her mother's house, a four-hour round trip. The boy insists he go every time. They always get back really late so it's a great time to catch up on work after my girl goes to sleep around 7:30.

My friend Bre is coming over in the morning so we can finish the graves we have been making for the party. Here's a picture:

 In other news, we have to get an affidavit from the state of Texas, notorized, stating we delay or deny some vaccinations so he can remain in his speech preschool class. I knew this would be address sometime, but it was exactly one day after his 4th birthday that the nurse presented me with this information. So my hubs, the paralegal/notary part, is going to work out the legal jargon so we can do that.

Here are a few pictures of us the last few days:

the beginning of our music tree

Stella making some noise

silly pics with the boy

he insisted on silly faces

Cole admiring his new dog Zeus

taking Zeus for a ride

peace!

car pic

365: Day 5

365: Day 5 by stacywill featuring an angora sweater

This is what I'm wearing today! (although the boots and hat probably won't be put on today since I'm not leaving the house...) Happy Friday everyone! :)

leather & lace: dresses & tops

leather & lace: dresses & tops by stacywill featuring michael kors tops

I don't care how worn out Michael Kors thinks lace and leather are, I still love it.  ;)

365: Day 4

365: Day 4 by stacywill featuring leather belts

edgy comfort

edgy comfort by stacywill featuring dark blue skinny jeans

365: Day 3

365: Day 3 by stacywill featuring skinny jeans

365: Day 2

365: Day 2 by stacywill featuring low heel boots

365: Day 1

365: Day 1 by stacywill featuring moonbasa

Cool Cool Party, Lalalala

We had Cole's fourth birthday party on Saturday. Here are some highlights.

One dress, 2 ways

One dress, 2 ways by stacywill featuring fat face


Vintage dress from Banana Republic scored from clothing swap. 
Riding boots: Dexter by Payless. 
Denim jacket: GAP
Blazer: Old Navy

equestrian style

equestrian style by stacywill featuring asymmetrical shirts

My Baby is 4.

This morning we had Cole's birthday party. He woke up to a house fully covered in streamers and streamer curtains on the stairs and a small stack of gifts and was so excited. Every time we asked him how old he was, he put his finger on his chin and said, "Mm, I can't 'member." So cute and silly.

It has been such a blessing being the mother of a sweet, funny, empathetic, sensitive, fun-loving, protective, loving boy. He is more than I could have ever asked for and is growing into a better little human each day. His teachers praise his listening skills and call him the 'complete package.' He loves his friends and classmates, animals, playing video games and learning, and being outside. His favorite toys are cars. He has passed every level of Angry Birds. His speech is improving weekly and he's maturing into a big boy.

Even though he's not a baby anymore, he'll always be my first-born, so he'll always be my baby.

blogger style: cheyenne meets chanel

blogger style: cheyenne meets chanel by stacywill featuring studded shorts

blogger style: blonde bedhead

blogger style: blonde bedhead by stacywill featuring black eye glasses

blogger style: kendi every day

blogger style: kendi every day by stacywill featuring high heels

Miu Miu Favorites

Miu Miu Favorites by stacywill featuring a wool skirt

Inspiration: Valentino

Inspiration: Valentino by stacywill featuring genuine leather boots

Texting with Kevin

This week my husband is out of town, which means I am clinically insane for the week with two children under the age of 4. They exhaust me just waking up these days, thinking of all the things we have to get done and all of those that will go left untouched because I wanted to sit down and rest instead of moving so fast it feels like I'm cracked out.

Anyway, we were texting yesterday and since he wasn't replying, I just told him everything that was going on in texts. Here is the randomness.

Me: Zeus has to be kenneled at night. This morning he ate my hat box, a record, my phone charger, and the rug outside Stella's door.
Kev: All part of the fun of a new dog. Did you go alpha and beat him with the hat?
Me: Yes, I smacked his nose with it. Hurry and come home.
Kev: Think he will shape up when I am back with some mean man voice in the house.


Me: Went to the park at 7:30 tonight. Realized Cole has two pairs of jeans so grabbed some at Old Navy. The kid got balloons they beat me with on the way home. The checkout guy said balloons cure insanity.
Kev: LOL


Me: Our garage door won't stay closed. Keeps blowing open. Creepy. I have a stye on my left eye that hurts like fuck.

Me: I am going to get 100 garbage bags and start cleaning out our house. We have too much shit. I'm smothering.

Me: So yesterday your son called me a stupid bitch when I took the strawberries away from him. I asked him to repeat it, smacked his cheek, took him to his room and told him never to say that, ever.
Me: Today he called me a stupid asshole. I don't remember why, but he got another smack. Stella has started punching and kicking me at bedtime. Woot.


Me: Talked to my mom tonight, who said my hair's too short, it makes me look too skinny.
Me: I weighed myself and the scale said **. Depression kicks my appetite's ass. I need you to take care of me, I guess.

Me: I'm not Cole's best friend anymore. This week I've been called a stupid bitch, stupid asshole, fucker, and meanie.
Kev: Yeah time to put a foot down on name calling

sweaters & jeans

sweaters & jeans by stacywill featuring skinny jeans

Layer it up

Layer it up by stacywill featuring retro eyeglasses

INSPIRATION: Kendi Everyday

INSPIRATION: Kendi Everyday by stacywill featuring forever new

INSPIRATION: Kendi Everyday

INSPIRATION: Kendi Everyday by stacywill featuring a slouchy tee

the blues

the blues by stacywill featuring black tops

Colored Jeans

I have decided that I need at least 10 more pairs of colored jeans. Yes, that might be a large number, but at the rate I wear my pinkish-red ones from Target, that's on the low side. You can pair them with anything - a denim jacket, blazer, tall boots, flats, Toms, dress 'em up, dress 'em down.. they're an instant pop to my favorite black, white and grey tops.

Here are my favorite looks from around the worldwide web. Mostly paired with black, I'm planning on buying those 10 pairs of colored jeans (when payday comes, of course, and maybe not all of them at once..) and rocking these looks through fall and winter.

friday: what i'm wearing

friday: what i'm wearing by stacywill featuring jersey tops

The Complete Guide to Not Giving a Fuck

Ok, I have a confession to make.
I have spent almost my whole life– 31 years–  caring far too much about offending people, worrying if I’m cool enough for them, or asking myself if they are judging me.
I can’t take it anymore. It’s stupid, and it’s not good for my well being. It has made me a punching bag–  a flighty, nervous wuss. But worse than that, it has made me someone who doesn’t take a stand for anything. It has made me someone who stood in the middle, far too often, and not where I cared to stand, for fear of alienating others. No more. Not today.
Today, ladies and gentlemen, is different.
We’re going to talk about the cure. We’re going to talk about what’s necessary. We’re going to talk about the truth.
Do you wonder if someone is talking shit about you? Whether your friends will approve? Have you become conflict-avoidant? Spineless?
Well, it’s time you started not giving a fuck.

FACT NUMBER 1. People are judging you right now.
Yes, it’s really happening right at this moment. Some people don’t like you, and guess what? There’s nothing you can do about it. No amount of coercion, toadying, or pandering to their interests will help. In fact, the opposite is often true; the more you stand for something, the more they respect you, whether it’s grudgingly or not.
What people truly respect is when you draw the line and say “you will go no further.” They may not like this behaviour, but so what? These are people don’t like you anyway, why should you attempt to please people who don’t care for you in the first place?
Right. Then, there’s Internet trolls. That’s a whole other thing.
Regular people are fine– you don’t actually hear it when they’re talking behind your back. But on the web, you do see it, which changes the dynamic drastically. They have an impact because they know you have your vanity searches, etc. But the real problem with Internet haters is that they confirm your paranoid delusion that everyone out there secretly hates you.
Thankfully, that’s not actually true. So the first noble truth is that most people don’t even care that you’re alive. Embrace this, my friends, for it is true freedom. The world is vast and you are small, and therefore you may do as you wish and cast your thoughts of those who dislike it to the side.

FACT NUMBER 2. You don’t need everyone to like you.
This stuff is crazy, I know, but it’s cool, you’ll get used to it. Here’s the next thing: not only do most people not know that you exist, and some are judging you, but it totally does not matter even if they are.
How liberating this is may not even hit you yet, but it will. Check this out: when people don’t like you, nothing actually happens. The world does not end. You don’t feel them breathing down your neck. In fact, the more you ignore them and just go about your business, the better off you are.
You know when they say “the best revenge is a life well lived”? Well, this is true, but it isn’t the whole truth. A life well lived is great, yes, but it cannot happen while you are sweating about who your detractors are and what they think. What you have to do, what you have no choice but to do, is accept it and move on.
So not giving a fuck is actually a necessary precedent to create a good life for yourself. It can’t happen without it. That’s why you have to begin today.

FACT NUMBER 3. It’s your people that matter.
Ok, so you’ve adjusted to the fact that most people in the world are barely aware of your existence, and you’re also conscious of the fact that those who don’t like you are in the obscenely small minority and don’t actually matter. Awesome. Next you need to realize that the people who do care about you, and no one else, are those you need to focus on.
Relationships are weird. Once we’re in one (with family, a spouse, whatever), we promptly begin to take the other person for granted and move on to impressing strangers instead– say, our boss. Then, once we’ve impressed our boss, we start taking him for granted too, and so on, in an endless cycle of apathy. It’s like we always prefer to impress and charm the new than to work on what we already have.
But these people– your champions– they understand your quest or your cause. They make you feel good when you’re around them, make you laugh or make you feel like you can just be yourself. They make you feel relaxed or at ease. You’ve shared things with them. They’re important. Focus on them instead.

FACT NUMBER 4. Those who don’t give a fuck change the world. The rest do not.
So I’m reading this horrible book right now by Stephen King called the Long Walk. It’s a contest where people walk without sleeping or resting, and if they do stop, they are killed. (That’s actually every Stephen King book– “there’s a clown, but it kills!” “There’s a car, but it kills!” etc.)
I suspect this book is a metaphor for war, but it also captures perseverance very well. What it takes to move past anything is to simply realize that your obstacle is unimportant, and that it can be dismissed. This is true whether you’re running a marathon or trying to get to Mars.
If you dismiss the things that do not matter; if you remove those things from your mind and focus on what must be done; if you understand that your time is limited and decide to work now; only then will you be able to get to the finish line. Otherwise, you will be dissuaded into living a life you aren’t interested in.
Side note: You need to handle failure and obscurity better. You may be in a tough place right now where you feel lonely or like a loser. No worries, we’ve all been there. But it’s time for you to realize how common these things are, and that they’re experienced by even the most successful and happiest people in the world. Those people get past them, and you will too.

The eye is watching

You want to know something? This actually has nothing to do with anyone else. It has everything to do with you.
I had a discussion with Jonathan Fields the other week that was about the use of swearing (and “true voice”) on blogs. I watched him on a Skype video as we did this, and I could actually pinpoint the moment where he was about to say “fuck” but almost stopped himself. It was amazing. So I called him out on it. “You felt it just now, didn’t you?”
Everyone has an internetal eye. It always watching. It has been slowly constructed by society at large and by your friends and family, and it checks you for unacceptable behaviour. If you have had it around for long enough, you actually start to believe that the eye is you, and that you’re “being reasonable” or some other rationalization.
But the eye isn’t you at all. It is a prison, and you have justified its existence by obeying it. It’s strong because you let it be strong.
But the secret, the part that’s amazing, is that it can’t do anything to stop you, even if it wanted to. It’s an eye. It can only watch. The rest of you is free to act as you wish.

It doesn’t fucking matter.

Written by Julien Smith. Check out more of my blog, or my free book, here.