Stylist, please?

I've been taking pictures of one family after the next for the upcoming holidays. And every family I meet shows up looking effortlessly lovely. Which never ceases to amaze me since outfitting the family for holiday pics is the bane of my existing. Every year it takes me longer and longer (perhaps due to the continued expansion of the clan).

This year I decided we're going with a more relaxed look so we're going to wear jeans. Which means I only need to buy tops. That's a no brainer, right? Not so much. Trying to look coordinated but not outright matchy-matchy is beyond my abilities, apparently. I spent two hours looking for a top for myself to end up with one purchase that still doesn't inspire me. I still don't have a decent pair of jeans, but I've got a Gap coupon so I'm optimistic.

I've been looking online for Juliette because I can't find anything in the store that's a dark color, not too dressy, and no wild patterns. I found something online but can't stomach paying $100 for an outfit that will be unlikely to fit in two months. I did find a dress I kind of liked online for $50. Then I found the same dress in a store for $110 but it was super cute when I tried it on her. So I spent 1.5 hours online trying to find it for $50 again. No luck.

I took all 3 kids to the mall today to try to find outfits for the boys. The only things that kept me from killing them were 1)threats of telling the mall Santa about their misbehavior (why is Santa there before Thanksgiving?) 2) the TVs in 2 of the stores we visited and 3) the promise of cookies. So I got a few options for them which is progress. Another 5 hours of frustrated shopping and I might wrap this year's shopping up. Which is ridiculous. Who spends this long to look so "effortlessly casual"? Nobody.

So if you wonder why I didn't send that perfect baby/birthday/Christmas gift...this is why. I can't shop. Get paralyzed by the decision-making. No inspiration. Looking around at the vast mountains of choices just makes me dizzy.

But with any luck, I might get it together enough to get the family pic done, put together a card, and send it to you. If I work on it every waking hour between now and Dec 25th.