My Holiday Party outfit

I mentioned earlier that it was agonizing to try and figure out what to wear to J's holiday work party. I get really intimidated dressing for his work events, especially when I know there will be movie stars in attendance. I'm not a big star watcher, I rarely recognize them before he points them out to me, but still the fashion... ah, what to wear???? The tough thing about LA parties is that the men all wear jeans and shirts - rarely jackets, but the women dress up. And I don't really do heels, so what to do?
Here's what I did... and here are the designers (or some like them) that made my outfit work.
1- simple dress - you can see it here. Here's a cute one kind of like it, and this one is similar (though tighter!)
2 - headband. My pal, Tori, gave mine to me and the designer who made it doesn't sell online,
but here is a similar one on etsy. I wore my hair very "flippy" - inspired by Alice Cullen's hair. eek, Twilight dorkdom strikes again!
3 - woven tights from Anthropologie. (about a year ago)
4 - flashy disco earrings. Forever 21. also from last year. (I liked the idea of mixing the flapper style headband and the disco earrings) I think you can see them in the above pic. I actually removed a gem that was hanging from the bottom when I first bought them.
5 - Necklace by International Sanctuary (for this outfit, I actually tucked it into my dress (um, bra) and used just the chain for an accent piece)
6 - leather studded and blingy bracelet - new this month... i love it! The designer is just getting her etsy site up right now, I have the bracelet that is dark brown with big rhinestones. (upper left corner)
7 - shiny shoes. brown patent leather... they were flats - though I toyed with red kitten heeled ones, too... I ended up with the flats for comfort sake. These aren't the ones I wore, but they'd do.
8 - okay. I didn't want to mention this, but seriously, it helped my outfit greatly. Victoria's Secret. It really worked. "Miraculously" well, considering I have almost nothing to begin with. (enough said)

anyhow... it made for a fun outfit that will likely be my New Years' outfit as well when I head to my sister's Appetizer Cookoff Contest. It was fun putting the outfit together and fun getting this post together, too. Hope you enjoyed it - I haven't done anything like this before... (oh, and with DSL issues that we've been having, this took me 3 days to write!)

Hot hoops

Every once in a while, life offers funny intersections. I've been waiting four years to actually run into a stranger wearing a Libby Dibby skirt. It hasn't happened yet, though I've heard of other people getting asked if their skirt/purse/jewelry was Libby Dibby. It's bound to happen at some point, but it hasn't yet.
My dad is a toy inventor. He's sold many more than just 1100 handmade skirts and a couple hundred necklaces... His business is based on royalties, checks coming in over the years for thousands of units sold. So why should it surprise me when those toys intersect my life?
We thought it was hysterical when someone gave us Upwords as a wedding gift... Considering the wedding was funded in part by that game itself.
Last night J came home with a game called Hot Hoops he chose at his office gift exchange. He picked it thinking the kids would play well with it together and knowing that Z/Troy likes anything basketball...
(he was right) but as I kept looking at it, I kept thinking, "wait, I think my dad invented this..." it felt like I remembered Dad describing the prototype to us at dinner one night as a kid... And the name definitely rang a bell. (Dad likes alliteration for product names) Texted mom to ask; turns out I was right. So this morning's entertainment is brought to us by an idea PopE had many years ago. How fun is that? Dad, I know you'll love this pic more than anyone else...

Funny pic

So tonight was J's work holiday party. We took this pic in the photo booth. (how fun is that?) What you can't really see is my outfit which was really made possible by a bunch of rockin' etsy designers, a few discount items and a pair of tights from anthropologie. I agonized all day about what to wear. Hollywood parties are really intimidating to dress for and even after 4 years, I about have a fit the day of the event every time... But I love me some good accessories. And though you can't really see them here (how lame am I that I got no real pics?) I wore at least 4 one of a kind items that were designed by people I know or have bought through friends and etsy. Etsy, thank you! Oh, and how much do you love my goggles and snowball? I have no clue what J is holding...

We have a winner!

This photo is just an excuse to show off my cute kids, but let's pretend that they are giggling as they say, "Michelle Underwood, you won a new skirt!" email me, and let me know what size you need and I'll ship it out tomorrow!

24 hours in Canada

It's a busy season! In the midst of all our normal holiday parties, we scheduled an overnight trip to Vancouver for J's work holiday party. 24 hours in and out... And we managed to take the 2 hour walk to the place where we got engaged 10 years ago, too.

I love dressing for rainy days

And this is before I put on my leopard print raincoat.

FREE skirt giveaway

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas shopping is all done. My wrapping is almost done. My crafting is about 75% done. That leaves me enough time to do a free skirt giveaway! This is the pattern (Day Journey) that the winner will receive. (It will be a S, M or L size skirt - your preference) - It will ship out to get to you in time for the holidays if you win!

DEADLINE: Wed, Dec 16th - 9pmPST

All you have to do to enter:

1 - sign up as a follower of Libby Dibby on blogger

2 - leave a comment sometime this week

3- post about the giveaway on your blog. or tweet about it. or just tell your friends!

Brown paper packages tied up with string

I have a friend who needs a little cheering up. She's getting this in
the mail this week.

Don't Forget Unique LA

Double-Sided Hummingbird Card, Spring 09
Originally uploaded by uniquelosangeles

Tonight is all pre-show prep around here. Though, I have to confess, this time of year, my living room stays stocked with boxes that leave the house every few days until my last show (Which is this one, this weekend) before they get put back in storage...

Tonight, I had the most fun making my booth partner a sign to match my own Libby Dibby sign - I can't wait to show you.... Amy, from Mazie Kane, is really a great friend of mine and has recently launched her business. She's the one who pushed me to apply to Unique LA with her. I'm looking forward to spending the two days with her and I'm looking forward to the awesome shopping and meeting the other vendors. I always make new crafty friends at these things... (I can think of a bunch of you, who are readers now that are my best prizes from my many events over the years... you know who you are!)


Those of you who are local, I hope you can come to the event - it's going to be great. There are over 300 vendors - all juried to get in, so you know it's good stuff. And the entry fee gets you a goodie bag and a free drink coupon, too... (Plus, I still have a few free tix left, just ask!)

Design Director's Tree Collage

Mimi tried her hand at one of momma's collages last night.
How much do we love this?!!!!!