tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91439548238258269662012-01-27T19:02:25.162-06:00Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.comBlogger706125Friedokrahttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-70051364713398010302012-01-25T04:00:00.000-06:002012-01-25T11:04:36.897-06:002012-01-25T11:04:36.897-06:00

A great-fitting black v-neck t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans has to be one of my favorite combinations.  A definite go-to for my every day style, it's seasonless, timeless, ageless, and done right can be so flattering and subtly sexy, but done too often can be a bit of a snooze-fest.  So I wanted to see if I could achieve similar results by exploring some new but classic [and warm!] pairings

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-72895911653034528102012-01-23T09:26:00.000-06:002012-01-23T09:42:42.800-06:002012-01-23T09:42:42.800-06:00

My desk, a normal Saturday afternoon, the warm office lit only with the glowing, clean sunlight reflected off snow along the double window's ledge. To my right, against the stripes of the blinds, in his favorite chair, reclines this man -- the one person on whom I look and no longer feel the end of me before I blur and blend into the beginning of him. Steam from his tea politely excuses itself

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-88080158312295909512012-01-20T04:30:00.000-06:002012-01-20T07:59:20.870-06:002012-01-20T07:59:20.870-06:00

I'm enjoying talking about daily style so much lately. I love looking at style blogs and window shopping around the internet. (It's much warmer than actually leaving my home and scurrying from store to store, plus I can pile a bunch of stuff up in my "Shopping Cart" then dump it at the door before I click away empty handed, having talked myself out of everything I thought I wanted, without

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-10886027853450513112012-01-19T04:30:00.004-06:002012-01-19T07:10:45.131-06:002012-01-19T07:10:45.131-06:00

I wrote this post a little less than a year ago, and haven't really thought of it in awhile. But I noticed via my stats page that someone landed on it yesterday and I thought.... One Question? What was the one question? I need to go look at that.And so I did.And I read the post. And the comments. They're among the most moving and meaningful comments I've gotten since I started writing here

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-69723905352815862502012-01-18T04:30:00.004-06:002012-01-19T12:46:04.724-06:002012-01-19T12:46:04.724-06:00

It's Wednesday again, and that means it's time to share some of my outfits from the past week. This week I was all about plaid, and brighter colors popping amid wintery neutrals. And some ridiculously impractical but seriously fierce shoes. I love ridiculously impractical but seriously fierce shoes. When I go shoe-shopping, which I do way too often, I always go immediately to the Ridiculously

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-8480837126446221312012-01-17T10:00:00.005-06:002012-01-17T11:10:06.969-06:002012-01-17T11:10:06.969-06:00

Isn't it odd that snow flakes falling straight down, blanketing everything in gentle clouds of white, evoke a joyfully cozy and cheerful feeling, but snow blowing horizontally, alternately concealing and revealing patches of the landscape it crosses as if over weeks or months of time-lapse, seems to naturally create a bleak and lonely mood?I'm home alone today, watching an endless billowing haze

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-83435782516697361082012-01-15T15:36:00.008-06:002012-01-15T16:35:46.534-06:002012-01-15T16:35:46.534-06:00

At some point during this perfect day of deep blue sky, thrilled squeals and giggles, a million Let's-do-dat-'again!s and one-two-three-four grins-til-our-cheeks hurt, my heart exploded into a brilliant, sparkling cloud of hearts and flowers and kittens and puppies and honey and glitter, and I fell more deeply in love with these three people than I've ever been. Bumping, curving, breathless

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-60465705089895907432012-01-13T10:21:00.010-06:002012-01-19T12:47:00.688-06:002012-01-19T12:47:00.688-06:00

I have one delightful hand knit sweater -- one my very talented Grandmama Clover twirled off her needles for me back when I was 11 or 12. She built this natural wool cable classic so that it was very sturdy and amply roomy for me then, neither of which I understood or liked at the time, but OHMYGRANNY how thankful I am now for her foresight and insistence on those particular qualities in this

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-46400924699990564792012-01-12T08:52:00.006-06:002012-01-12T10:32:15.486-06:002012-01-12T10:32:15.486-06:00

The weather, it is a'comin.My little prairie's about to get the weather spanking we all knew would come, in the end. But like I said, I'm ready for winter. This morning I hopped out of the sack, stripped off the regular cotton sheets and threw on the brand new, freshly laundered flannel ones in preparation for All the Winter. One thing I can say about making a bed with flannel sheets: Girl, you

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-38452428799527288942012-01-11T04:30:00.009-06:002012-01-19T12:46:30.828-06:002012-01-19T12:46:30.828-06:00

Do you read these two personal style blogs?I've been really inspired by a couple AMAZING personal style blogs lately (I read a handful of them daily now and I am always looking for more, so let me know if you have one of your own or some favorites I could take a peek at!) I'd been keeping up with Kendi of Kendi Everyday for several months, and then sometime over the Christmas holidays I stumbled

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-55444934647632562982012-01-09T08:43:00.006-06:002012-01-09T10:26:08.978-06:002012-01-09T10:26:08.978-06:00

I don't have much time this morning, which of course means that I have something huge and important (to me) in my brain that I absolutely MUST write, IMMEDIATELY. So I am going to try to be concise. Stop laughing.I've been thinking quite a bit over the last 18 months about the cyclical patterns of my moods. And I'm not necessarily talking about hormones, though they do play a role for sure.

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-37706470795219987092012-01-06T09:12:00.009-06:002012-01-06T13:54:34.811-06:002012-01-06T13:54:34.811-06:00

I don't know about you, but this week was a "get-back-into-the-routine" week at my house after what's seemed like a 3 week long party. I'm apparently taking longer to get back into my routine than anyone else, though. I've got a list upon list in my head of things I should be doing to catch up and get this place back in order, but instead of doing all that basic housekeeping, book-keeping and

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-4116598702840108092012-01-05T04:55:00.004-06:002012-01-05T06:47:00.552-06:002012-01-05T06:47:00.552-06:00

Peabody woke up this morning and peeked forlornly out the window into the early grey dawn. Hey Mama, when dey gon' turn onna SNOW?I hear you, Peabody. With only a few snowfalls that have left only a couple of vague, transparent traces of snow on the ground, this winter has been unusual to say the least. And the temperatures, although a bit more normal (frigid) these past few days, have stayed

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-30495691838258344222012-01-04T08:57:00.011-06:002012-01-19T12:47:41.039-06:002012-01-19T12:47:41.039-06:00

Among other resolutions, many of which involve the large blobs of flesh now protruding from various parts of my anatomy, thankyouverymuchforthat,Christmascookies, I set myself a goal for the new year to suck it up already and end my pout-fest over an unfortunate critical comment about my WIWW posts and start showing you some of my outfits again. You shared many very lovely and supportive

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-1064405585723626202011-12-30T14:40:00.006-06:002011-12-30T18:13:19.162-06:002011-12-30T18:13:19.162-06:00

Looking for a fun, educational, low-cost, at-home way to entertain your young kids while they're on winter break? I've got one for you!In the hectic race to stay ahead of/entertain my "vacationing" (ahem.) children, I discovered a fun little activity. We did it today, and I thought that those of you who have younger kids (I'm going to say 7 and under) might also find to be a pleasant diversion

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-55002119260905555832011-12-07T09:36:00.008-06:002011-12-07T10:43:26.061-06:002011-12-07T10:43:26.061-06:00

I just want to have one of those days, you know? A pajama day, though not necessarily in pajamas. Just a day that goes hmmm, hmmm, hmmmm in a sing-songy way, a comfortable, meandering day of easy activity with no particular structure.But I have this boy; this boy who seriously needs structure to stay cool. Needs to know the next item on the agenda, on and on. Not that he knows this about

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-13482473441490790502011-11-18T13:44:00.006-06:002011-11-18T14:35:09.085-06:002011-11-18T14:35:09.085-06:00

I miss writing.I miss the kind of thinking that I do when I'm writing.I miss stretching beyond what's righthere (flat hand touching the end of my nose) to see what's under there, or around this, or behind that.So why do I not write? I think it's because I'm too consumed with DOING to think much about it. One romantic, attached husband. Two busy, engaging young kids. A household (is that all

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-23202762399500443532011-10-25T09:20:00.002-05:002012-01-19T12:48:24.582-06:002012-01-19T12:48:24.582-06:00

Wednesday - Sitting at home all day waiting for the furnace guy to show up. It was actually a very nice excuse to just stay home and be snuggly all day, as the weather was cold, grey and rainy and I was in the mood to drink tea and cuddle Peabody by the fire, which I did!First, though, we walked Bean to the bus stop, in our WINTER CO-O-O-OATS. (shiver)Oy. So soon? What I'm WearingCharcoal

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-7693766508219285302011-10-18T13:30:00.006-05:002012-01-19T12:49:04.031-06:002012-01-19T12:49:04.031-06:00

Wednesday - Out to lunch with a friend, Bunco with The Girls laterBlack/white animal print shirt - Old NavyDark green lace-embellished cami - POOF!, T. J. MaxxJeans - Lucky BrandJewelry - Old NavyWooden-beaded necklace - DIYBeige leather open-toe mule - Bass Hair - Hot rollers, finger styled--------------------Thursday - Cleaned (not in this outfit, again), school drop-off(Basically after I

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-60237301111226306222011-10-11T13:54:00.009-05:002012-01-19T12:49:33.679-06:002012-01-19T12:49:33.679-06:00

I seriously had to work the summer-into-fall angle pretty hard this week because WOW has it been hot here! Up in the 80s a few days and never any lower during the day than about 76! That's fairly unusual for Chicago this time of year. So I tried pairing some typically summery things with light cotton sweaters, heavier leather belts and less summery shoes, except the one day I wore sandals.

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-14648368426539936712011-10-06T08:47:00.008-05:002011-10-06T15:10:06.251-05:002011-10-06T15:10:06.251-05:00

I have a deep and abiding fondness for fall, don't y'all?And pumpkins, especially. I seriously heart pumpkins, as I have mentioned before. And I seriously heart decorating with them, all orange and happy and warm. I think I may have subconsciously chosen the color scheme in my house to make the perfect backdrop for pumpkins and leaves and stuff, because I don't think our house looks much

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-36331439863828034932011-10-04T15:21:00.006-05:002012-01-19T12:50:19.238-06:002012-01-19T12:50:19.238-06:00

I have been following What I Wore Wednesday hosted by The Pleated Poppy, via Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife for many long months and completely enjoying seeing what other "real women" wear on a daily basis. It's so inspiring and has tickled my desire to dig a little deeper fashion-wise than my standard mom-iform of whatever-jeans-are-clean and a v-neck t-shirt or sweater that hopefully

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-51018999466506743692011-09-19T05:00:00.000-05:002011-09-19T05:00:01.742-05:002011-09-19T05:00:01.742-05:00

So about 4 months ago, I got this summary from my credit card company that broke our expenditures down by category. (And what does that have to do with Italian Wedding soup, you might ask? Follow along with me and we'll get there. I promise.)Breakdown is exactly the right phrase, here, because when I got a load of the dollar amount in the Restaurant category, I broke down and bawled like a

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-4141516967257110142011-09-16T09:33:00.007-05:002011-09-16T10:31:41.155-05:002011-09-16T10:31:41.155-05:00

There's more delicious soup-gravy in the finished dish than appears here in this picture, which was taken this morning after the leftovers sat in the fridge overnight and sucked up all their own juices. I'll confess that I am not the biggest fan of chicken and dumplings in the world.There, I said it. My Southern card will be revoked next time I try to cross the Mason Dixon, y'all, but I felt I

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143954823825826966.post-33938146655541668852011-09-15T13:20:00.007-05:002011-09-15T20:11:50.767-05:002011-09-15T20:11:50.767-05:00

My kids LOVE applesauce. Jar after 72 ounce jar of it. Scoop, heat, cinnamonize, stir, serve, eat, repeat repeat repeat ... UNTIL... They are ALLDONE with applesauce and the next time I get it out to serve, Peabody looks at me and sobs out, "But I don't like-a eat da ah-oo-saush, Mama," and Bean quietly walks away shaking her head.(I do not do this with applesauce, but I do do it with shoes.)

Megan (FriedOkra)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14008925325073263825noreply@blogger.com3