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Lands’ End Starfish Collection Giveaway #8

I can’t believe we’re almost to the end of our Lands’ End Starfish Collection giveaways!  The winner of giveaway #7 was our pal Cortney.  Congrats!!  Keep being persistent and entering EVERY giveaway if you want to win!

There’s another new Starfish item I just received and I ADORE: The Starfish Quilted Jacket.

I happen to be wearing it right. this. second.  Even though I am indoors!  Because it’s so cozy, I don’t want to take it off!  It’s lined with soft jersey, has a roll-sleeve which is ever-so-convenient, and the quilting is just so cute!  This is a great addition to your Starfish wardrobe or ANY wardrobe!  It’s a fabulous fall jacket. I have this bright berry color and it’s so pretty.  But there are several more neutral colors available, too.

So now it’s time to enter to win FIVE pieces of this gorgeous, comfy Starfish collection from Lands’ End!  Here’s how to enter:

1) Go check out the Starfish Collection and leave me a comment letting me know which piece you think looks the best. If you can’t pick one, that’s ok, just tell me what you love!

2) “Like” our facebook page and leave us a comment on this post telling us you did our already do

3) Tweet about this giveaway “Win 5 pieces of the #landsend Starfish Collection from @jennyitup & @momminitup http://bit.ly/scvuEq ” then leave us a comment with your tweet URL.

4) Subscribe to our feed, then leave us a comment on this post letting us know you did or already do.

This giveaway will end Friday, November 25th at 8 pm EST!  Good luck!!

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Lands’ End at the Office: Day to Night

I’m on a mission to make Lands’ End the go-to place for office wear for all of you! Last week, I showed you how to go from the office to after work kids’ activities, and today I’m talking about how to take Lands’ End looks from day to night. Because even moms get a night out every once in a while, right?!?

Here’s one outfit that would be perfect for work and a date night.

The mainstay in this outfit is the Women’s Regular Tweedy Ponté Skirt

I like this skirt a lot – in fact, I felt so good in it that it’s what I chose to wear to my thesis defense. It is a knit tweed so it’s extremely soft and comfortable. It has a curved silhouette that is flattering yet professional. Even better – it’s machine washable, which I was pleasantly surprised to find!

For work, I’d wear that skirt with a white Women’s Regular 3/4-sleeve No Iron Stretch Ruffle Front Shirt.

I love the detail on this shirt – the darts and the ruffles make for a really pulled-together look. I also have a thing for 3/4 length sleeves, so that was a bonus – and of course, the no-iron thing is key! You could wear it tucked in or with a thin black belt.

Add some Matte Tights…

…and slip on Women’s Emma Kitten Heel Ballet Shoes, and head out the door to work.

But wait! Headed out with the hubs?

Add the Women’s Regular Fine Gauge Supima Wrap Cardigan Sweater

A Women’s Silver Letter Pin for a little bling…

…and change the kitten heel ballets for the Women’s Elizabeth Mid Heel Boot With Buckle.

The cardigan is SO cozy, and a wrap design is always flattering to the waistline. It’s made from Supima, the most refined cotton grown in America, and is machine washable. I might have to get the camel colored one too.

The Elizabeth boots are wonderful too. I have the black, which are made with suede, but they also come in a calfskin espresso. The brushed metal buckle adds a nice touch and dresses them up just a bit more. They are pull ons, and have little elasticized slits (the website calls them gore) at the top, preventing what I like to call “boot muffin top.” Not that that’s ever happened to me. *ahem* These boots are super versatile and can be worn with anything – and as we all know, versatility is key!

And there you have it – a stylish, comfortable outfit that can go quickly from day to night. Love it!

*****
Lands’ End hooked me up with this outfit, but my love for it – and for them – is real.

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Thankfulness

There are many things that I am thankful for – too many to count.  I am thankful every minute of every day, and yet, I am certainly guilty of not being thankful, too. I know that doesn’t make any sense.  But it’s true. I am always thankful for my husband, my children, my home, my van – and yet, sometimes I forget that I am thankful.  I don’t stop and think about it, because I am either plowing through life just trying to get to what’s next, or I am drowning in the mess of having young children instead of celebrating the beauty of it.

Thankfulness is a state of being but it is also a choice.  And it is my goal, starting now, to be thankful in all things.  For awhile last year I was practicing this pretty well.  We were having all kinds of trouble with our health insurance company denying stuff they should have been paying (I almost wrote our stupid insurance company; then I remembered that I am thankful that I have health insurance.)  Anyhoo, everytime I got an estimation of benefits that said what we OWED (read: what they wouldn’t pay that per our policy, they should have paid) or every time I got a bill from one of the  various and sundry medical providers that we (read: our insurance company) owed, I would have a mini-breakdown.

Until I read one day in I Thessalonians 5:18, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

And so I started thanking God for those stupid bills and statements coming in the mail.  It wasn’t that I was happy about getting them, but I somehow managed to muster up thanks.  Thanks that I had this “first world problem” and a God I trusted to provide for my family’s needs.  Sometimes I had to drag myself kicking and screaming to the threshold of thankfulness, but mostly I managed to get there.

Eventually, our insurance company did the right thing and paid all that crap. Six months later, I might add. But they paid, and I am thankful.

Now, though, that all that stuff has passed, I realized today that I have forgotten to be thankful in all circumstances. Or to be thankful for a blissful LACK of “circumstances”.  I’ve started to let the big stuff as well as the small stuff get to me again, in big ways.

So tomorrow, it’s Thanksgiving Day, and I’ve been reminded again that I need to truly be thankful in all things.  And to be intentional about it. So, here I go again, being thankful for the beautiful and the fugly. I imagine there will be plenty of times when I’ll have to drag myself kicking and screaming again, but I will do my best, and though I will surely fail at times, I am going to try hard to keep it up.  Which reminds me of something else I’m thankful for: second, third, and fourth chances!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I’m thankful that you read these words of mine today.

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