For very fun reasons that will hopefully be revealed very soon... I blitzed to Chicago over the weekend to attend the International Home + Housewares Show.
In my pre-married.with.kids life, I attended trade shows and conventions regularly but this was by far the largest I've ever visited.  More than 2000 exhibitors and over 60,000 attendees. It was massive.  Much like when Mr. Darcy and I were in Seoul, I walked by hip flexors into oblivion. It was worth it though.
At one point I came around the corner and ran into the Star Fiber booth.  I walked over and proclaimed my love for their mops and asked if they had any of the new scrubbing mop pad heads to give away.  The very nice man running their exhibit told me that if I came back on Monday, they'd have samples. So I did. But my flight home left early and their give-aways hadn't arrived yet. He took my name and address and truthfully, I didn't expect much.  I assumed it would get lost in the shuffle of the mountain of information he undoubtedly collected during the nearly 4-day convention.

Boy, was I wrong!

A big box arrived yesterday afternoon (mind you, I talked with him on Sunday) and it contained NOT the one scrubbing mop pad I was hoping for, but...

• a new mop handle
  
• a new mop head
• TWO scrubbing mop pads
• a heavy duty mop pad
  
• 4 miracle cleaning cloths
• 4 donut scrubbies
  

Below is the mop head and pads.  See the blue stiff on the white pads? Those are stiff and will whisk away anything stuck to the floor.  The yellow pad is the heavy duty pad. I use it wet or dry and it's amazing. It grabs everything. My perfect cleaning solution is a mix of vinegar and water in a spray bottle.

I also learned something new about this mop I have loved for almost 6 years. See the round "buttons" on the mop head? They look like orange slices. If you come across a spot that needs more action than your basic mop stroke to remove - you step on that button and it adds the perfect amount of pressure to get it up. I missed that in the original instructions somewhere. But it makes sense that the buttons weren't just for decoration.

Below are the donut scrubbies.  These are awesome little sponges with the super duper microfiber on one side, and rougher material on the other. You can kind of see the shiny scrubbing material.  These will be well used. Oh my!

Now, you can't swing a toilet brush around without hitting some company hawking their microfiber cleaning products. I've received the odd sample now and then in the mail or at home shows. I've used them. And the only ones that remain in my house are Star Fiber.  The others lose their ability to clean after just a few washes. (And yes, I launder them properly. I don't even buy fabric softener.) They streak badly or fray at the edges or start to stink. Star Fiber never does! I bought my first mop and cloth set at the Salt Lake City home show almost 6 years ago and they are still perfect. 

This is obviously not a paid review.  Star Fiber has absolutely no idea who I am.  They are just a seriously studly company for sending me this awesome package when all I was hoping to score was a sample of the scrubbing mop pad.

Hats off to Star Fiber.  They've got class.

The random winner of the spring trench jacket is... D'Rae!
Please email me your address. (click the little email button at the top of the side bar)
I hope you love it!

If I don't hear from D'Rae within a week, I'll choose a different winner.

I'm not sure we're ever going to have a real winter here in Utah.  My Kidlets are bummed because there's not enough snow to play in.  We've only been able to sled twice and build one rather sad-looking, leaf encrusted snowman. 
I still think we'll probably get 40 feet or so in March but since spring fashions are wafting into the stores, I'm going to have a giveaway! 
Hey... I think this is my first EVER giveaway. Fun times!

It's not new, but it sure is special.

It's a delightful, delicious, polka dot pink trench coat from Gallery, size XL. Perfect for size 14/16 and could be tailored down to a 12.

It's very light weight, fully lined, water repellent and machine washable. There isn't a single sign of wear.  It has side pockets and a back vent. Ever so slight padding in the shoulders to keep a nice crisp shape there.  Princess seamed and incredibly flattering. It has a trim fit and the darts and seaming make you look so sleek. 

I shrunk out of this size and planned on having it taken in. But after speaking to a tailor, it wouldn't work.  Can't take it in that far.  I would be crying about giving it away because I utterly love it, but LUCKILY, my mom had also given my smaller sister the same jacket that now fits me fabulously. (Polka dots aren't her style.) So she happily passed it on to me at Christmas and I'm giving this to one of you lucky ladies.

So how do you get it?
1. Leave a comment.
2. Like Image Interpreters on Facebook.
(There's a little Like button on the side bar.)

You'll get one entry for each option and I'll run the giveaway through the weekend then randomly draw a winner.

Please don't enter if you, or someone you want to win it for, is not this size.  It's too good to languish in the back of a closet.

Happy Thursday!

I could have also titled this post - Always Check The Measurements!
On the ideeli sample sale site last week were some wrap dresses.  This is the teaser dress that was pictured, the one dress shown before you clicked into the details to see the other patterns and colors available. (The front was shown, I've included the back image.)

Being a modest dresser who wants dresses at least to the knee, if I believed this image to be true to size, I wouldn't have clicked further.  It's far too short. 
But I did click in for details. Observe.

Check out the knees! 
I clipped a smidgeon of the white below the actual image to show you how much of her legs were shown.

A tremendous difference from the original teaser image.  The shoulder-to-hem measurement is actually 41 inches! Much longer than the, oh, 30" shown in the teaser shot.  I also confirmed the measurements with customer service.  For me, I would actually have this dressed hemmed up about 3 to 4 inches, depending on how it hangs, to the middle or top of my knee.

Just a reminder to the wise.  When you're shopping online, ALWAYS check the actual measurements.  I couldn't begin to tell you why they would shorten the polka dot dress so much.  Probably the sexy factor, even though the longer length is more appealing to a much wider clientele.

Carmen asked how I would style my circle skirt besides the black cardigan I pictured it with in the last post. In fact, I don't wear the skirt with the cardigan I pictured anymore. I have a much more fitted, v-neck sweater in a thin, sleek knit that goes perfect with it. The cardigan is too big on me and a little too slouchy.
As I talked about in this Fashion Architecture post about proportion, I need to teeter-totter all the fullness on the bottom. 

Carmen also asked if I thought it would look good on a short-waisted body type.  I myself am pretty short-waisted, and I have read in various style books that skirts like this won't flatter us but I think they're wrong. I feel it depends more on the thickness of your waist rather than it's height in relation to the ribs.  Pairing a circle skirt with a similarly colored top will keep the line long, as opposed to cutting you in half.
Hope that helps! Thanks for the great question, Carmen!

Hello friends, fans, lurkers and looky-loos!
It's been... well, it's been a little while since my Thanksgiving post.  I hope everyone had a wonderfully Merry Christmas (We did! Traveled to AZ and the girls did pretty well.), a happy and fun New Year celebration (Thanks to good friends of ours we rocked a living room strobe light dance party!), and is enjoying the new year so far.

I took a little break from blogging so my husband and I could concentrate on a project we've been working on.  I'm so excited to announce it soon! Pins & needles, people. It's seriously awesome.  Until then, however, I have a lot to catch up on.  I went back through my zillion nearly-finished blog posts, and decided to just start somewhere. 

In October I posted about the Circle Skirt Sew-along I participated in.  But I never got around to sharing the actual shots of my skirt.  So that's where my post-holiday return to blogging begins.

Behold - my first circle skirt!

I have adored the retro silhouette of a circle skirt for as long as I can remember. But it wasn't until I lost some serious girth that I could pull it off.  Above, I'm showing it with my red patent leather Brian Atwood peep toes that were my -20 pound reward.

I wanted a winter weight skirt, since it was turning into chilly fall when I made the skirt. I chose a wool-blend houndstooth and it is SERIOUSLY hefty.  It was easy to sew though, because it's not a dense weave, just heavy material, if that makes sense.

As you can see below, the material is reversible, so I used the white "teeth" for the waistband and the black "teeth" for the body of the skirt.

It's perfect with my black dress boots.

It spins and swishes so lover-ly!
All these photos were taken without the petticoat underneath, because it wasn't complete.

If you want to make your own, you can follow the tutorial I linked to above.  I used several techniques I never had before; a lapped zipper, (my first zipper at all!), an overlapping waistband, and horsehair braid to shape the hem.
I already have material for several more spring/summer skirts. I foresee that lighter material being loads easier to work with but this was still totally worth it.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  We have some wonderful friends coming in to town to celebrate with us.  They used to live across the street and we miss them major.  It'll be a great day and I hope you have similarly wonderful plans.

Last year I wrote this about what I was planning on wearing and loved the wrap sweater and silky pants I chose. This year, I've chosen skinny black jeans, black riding boots, and a bright silky top (pictured below). Since we're hosting, I'll be super comfortable on my feet all day and I love the toughness of the boots mixed with the ruffles of the top. Plus, the sleeves are elbow length so they'll stay out of my way while cooking.

One of the reasons I chose the jeans is outlined in this newsletter- Holiday Help Part 1.
I wrote it for the clients we have the pleasure of health coaching and thought I would share it with you since tips for not gaining weight during the holidays are usually welcome by everyone. There's an incredibly inspiring before/after shot included.

This has been a wonderful year with so many things to be grateful for...
...my amazing husband and three angel daughters who are my whole light and life.
...a happy and healthy year. 
...our happy home full of everything we need and so much of what we want, even though it's a little more crowded than last year (toys breed at night!)
...for our incredible trip to Seoul and wonderful parents and sister who kept my girls happy and safe.
...for the joy we find in the "regular old daily life."
...for the land of the free and home of the brave, even with our current struggles.
...for our Heavenly Father and his Son who sacrificed everything for us.

_For you, I wish a gratitude-filled day tomorrow.
May your gravy be smooth and your potatoes not lumpy.
May everything look as good as it tastes, and may you enjoy in moderation.
Over-stuffed tummies are not stylish.
May you be the perfect cool-under-pressure hostess or the guest everyone wants to invite again next year.
- Happy Thanksgiving -

In preparing this post I discovered that I forgot to let you know that my husband and I were going to be celebrating our 6th anniversary by taking a trip to Seoul, Korea!
Hence, the absence of the last several weeks in preparing for the trip, taking the trip, regrouping after the trip.  It was absolutely incredible and our first real vacation since spending Christmas in Germany the first year we were married. 

I've never been west of Hawaii, so Asia was like nothing I've ever experienced. Here's a little taste for you...

Now that I'm back in the saddle I have more fabulous Seoul pictures and tidbits for you, as well as the pictures from the circle skirt sew along I mentioned before I left. (It turned out so great!)  The next part in our Defrumping Your Man series that I didn't get finished before I left and other holiday-related info. Hope you had a great Halloween!

I'm nearly finished with my gorgeous Circle Skirt... and I'm a little obsessed with it so that's where my little bitsies of free time are going right now. 
I love the ultra feminine silhouette of a circle skirt and I've always wanted to learn how to make one.  The fabulous Casey of Elegant Musings is doing a sew along and it has been so much fun. Click the button above to link to the whole series and her awesome vintage sewing/style blog.

My fabric is an awesome blown-out black and white houndstooth with a hint of silver sparkle in it.  It'll be awesome for fall/winter.  And I'm already planning another one in a spring/summer weight fabric.  (This houndstooth is pretty heavy!)
I'll post the pictures as soon as I'm done.  Working on Part 2 of Fighting the Man Frump that'll be up this week as well!