The McFarlane Daughters Opt In

Today might just be a barrage of photos. I'm typing on borrowed time here. Jaguar is napping, but there's no telling for how long. And if he doesn't wake up in twenty minutes, I'm going to stealthily move him to the car, because I need to go to the grocery store before the girls get home from school. (It's my scheduled weekly shopping day, so it's okay. I'll just not mention that I've been to the store every day of October so far anyway. I'm doing really good with this Twelve Month Challenge, aren't I?)

Today, Jaguar and I had a blast playing with the camera. We had a little photoshoot. Jaguar was my subject as I positioned my camera on the tripod.


Then we took some mum-and-son shots.



Aren't we cute?


Today I'm wearing The Dress tucked into my new $5 skinny cords, a $3 oxblood colored belt (I love sales racks, I really do), a black pendant necklace my aunt gave me, my glasses (because seeing Kate's ODP outfit yesterday made me want to wear my glasses that are like hers) and oxblood colored shoes. Let me tell you about these shoes just a minute.


They were the cutest, worst sales purchase ever. I bought them last April when I was flying out to America surprise my dad by showing up at his retirement. By this time, we were only a few months away from moving here permanently, so I was starting to justify all my purchases with "Will I be able to take this to America with me?" I wanted some cute but comfortable shoes for the flight, something I could take on and off quickly through security gates. I loved the color of these, loved the heel shape and loved the wee dangly charms. And I loved the price - £8. So I bought them. And wore them. And they were the worst possible shoes for flying you can imagine. They are uncomfortable, noisy, slippery, and don't flex well with your feet, so they click off your ankles with every step, if you don't sort of keep your feet rigid all the time. They rub my little toe constantly because they are so stiff.

But dang they're cute.

I ended up leaving them in America in my storage unit and flying back to Scotland in a pair of $2 flip flops. I rarely, if ever, wear them. But today they match my belt so... you know. Style over comfort, right?

See how they match the belt?

If you were keeping up with my October Dress Project from last year, you'll recall that Fifi did the project with me. I asked her this year if she wanted to do it again, and she was kind of back and forth about it. She's kind of outgrown wearing dresses and prefers to wear gym shorts and tees most days. But today, she decided she wanted in. We spent some time picking out a dress from her closet that was adaptable to many outfits and that won't make me sad if she ruins. She finally settled on her white dress from the wedding a couple of weeks ago.

Then of course Lolly wanted in. I helped her decide on a black dress with a gold bow mainly because I have two dresses the exact same (Fifi has outgrown hers, so Lolly has two now), meaning I can wash one while she wears the other. She's a play-in-the-dirt kind of girl, and I'll be doing a lot of washing with her dress. I'll be interested to see if she completes the month though. I didn't think Fifi would last year, but she surprised me! Maybe Lolly will do the same.

(And like last year, I won't force this on them. If they don't want to participate one day, I'm not going to make them! This is their choice!)


I just love how this project opens up Fifi's crazy fashion expression. She's not afraid to try new things, and the laziness of shorts and tees everyday gets in the way of how creative and confident she can be. Today, she's wearing Her Dress with a blue scarf wrapped around her waist, a white ribbon in her hair, a sparkly turquoise scarf around her neck and sneakers. She really wanted to wear her high heels, but they aren't allowed at school. We told her she could wear them this weekend.

Lolly is wearing Her Dress with leopard print leggings and colorful, light up sneakers. She was also wearing a cream hoodie for warmth, but wanted it off for the photo. Her hair is down because it's all wavy from sleeping in a braid.

So proud of my confident daughters!