You guys. Oh, my God you guys. This weekend, Matt and I went out to celebrate our five-year anniversary, and we had the best dinner EVER. I know I use superlatives a lot, but this was quite literally THE best meal of my entire life, and Matt agrees. I kind of failed on the photo front — I was rushed for outfit photos because I didn't start getting ready early enough, and I completely forgot to take a photo of Matt and I together – but I did get a couple good snaps for the evening.
dress, bracelet: H&M
necklace: The Limited
shoes: Target
lipstick: "Rich" by Covergirl
I didn't even get a shot of the back of this dress, but it's the zipper-all-the-way-down-the-back one from Friday's clothes budget post. Matt got all decked out in his gray suit, in which he looks fine as hell, but like I said, I didn't get a shot :( The following pics don't even do the food justice, because the restaurant was pretty dim and I didn't want to use the flash on my phone...discretion seemed prudent there.
When I made the reservation earlier in the week, they asked if it was for a special occasion. I told them and didn't think much of it...until we got to the restaurant (it's The Refectory in Upper Arlington, for you Columbus-ites) and the host — or rather, maître d'...this is a fancy French restaurant — wished us happy anniversary. As did the woman who walked us to our table. And our waiter. And when we opened out menus, this greeted us:
Pardon my French, but that is some fine fucking service. We've never really eaten at a five-star, fine dining restaurant before. And the service at places like that is just out of this world and completely unlike anything else I've ever experienced. They put my napkin in my lap for me. I don't know why I find that so noteworthy, but I do. And when I got up to use the restroom? They re-folded it and put it back on the table. There was a guy whose sole job was to dish out bread, deliver drinks and scrape the crumbs off our table with a little scooper thing in between courses. Fancy. As. Hell. The waiter was also super patient when I couldn't decide between three dishes, and helped me pick out wines as well. (One of them, a house Muscat-Viognier blend, was so good that I'm now on a hunt to find a few bottles to keep at home.)
So anyway, then we got to the food. We split a special appetizer for the evening. I don't know what it was called, but it had three kinds of fish and shrimp and veggies and all sorts of other deliciousness, wrapped up in a puff pastry. I've never tasted anything like it. I even ate the mushrooms in that dish, which for me is a HUGE deal. I don't eat fungi. But oh man. It was that good.
Then was the soup/salad course. Matt got a Caesar salad, and I got this mussel soup, and we switched off. I could have picked that soup bowl up by the little lion-face handles and drank it all in one gulp. But I didn't, because I am a classy lady. Sort of. It didn't photograph very well (cream-based soups rarely do), but here's that sweet lion face:
Then came the main course. Uh. Muh. Guhd. Matt got filet mignon, of course, and I got lamb tenderloin. Both were just incredible. The steak especially was phenomenal; it was cooked perfectly and practically melted in your mouth.
And then, dessert. Oh, desert. So by the time we finished the main course, we'd been at the restaurant for about two and a half hours and we were so full, I thought they'd have to roll us out the door. I asked the waiter if the crème brûlée was worth overstuffing ourselves and he swore it was. He was not lying. There's even a story about how this crème brûlée came to be, which the waiter was kind enough to tell us as we ate. (Dessert and a story? I love stories! So great.)
Long story short: The Refectory's chef, Richard Blondin, studied under one of the great French cuisine masters of the 20th century. (I was too wine- and food-filled to catch the name.) So this master had a really great crème brûlée at an Italian restaurant of all places, and was inspired to really perfect the dish on his own. He worked on it for years, finally coming up with the right process of baking and cooling and cooking. And Chef Blondin was able to take that recipe with him to The Refectory. You guys, we were told this was among the best crème brûlées in the country and THEY WERE NOT LYING. I have half a mind to make more frequent reservations there just to eat dessert. And the best part is, the waiter brought out a little complementary pour of a dessert wine to pair with it — an orange muscato that was pretty much to die for. I never really understood wine/food pairings until I ate that dessert with that wine.
Our original post-dinner plans had been to go home and change, then go catch a late showing of Jurassic Park in 3D, because nothing says classy date night like 3D dinosaurs. But when we got home, we simply collapsed into bed. True food coma. It helped that it was 10 by the time we got home, which is our normal old-person bedtime anyway, haha.
So there you have it. The story of the best dinner of my life, and how a new anniversary tradition was born. Because Matt's already informed me that this has to be a recurring locale for our celebration :)
Ok, I have appx. five seconds to write this post, so without further ado, here's how I spend my $100 clothes budget this month:
1. Ohio University Alumni T-shirt from Uptown Dog in Athens. $10 |exact|
I actually had this shirt before, lost it (or someone took it?) and now, two years later, I am thrilled to have it back in my closet again. So much love.
2. Old Navy t-shirt, purchased as XL so it'd be roomy and adorably oversized. On sale for $8.29
3. H&M LBD with a sexy zipper that goes all the way down. Clearance, $15
4. Old Navy 3/4 length t-shirt. I first saw it on the commercial, then on Kendi, and I knew I had to have it. On sale for $6.65
5. Express spike necklaces in antique gold and silver. On sale, buy one get one for $9.90. Total price for both, $40 |exact|
6. Old Navy pencil skirt. Because I can't get most of my pencil skirts from last year up over my thighs/butt :( On sale for $17.50 |exact|
7. Old Navy long chain necklace. Didn't have a price tag, so the awesome cashier grabbed the cheapest necklace on the rack and rang up this one at that price. $7.95
Total amount spent, including tax: $113.56. Less than $15 over...not too shabby!
Ok y'all. So I went to the Aveda Earth Jam fashion show and fundraiser/benefit on Tuesday, and much like last year, it was pretty freakin' rad. There was a photo booth, free sushi (WOOHOO), raffle baskets, silent auctions, a live auction (with a hilarious auctioneer) and product sales. (Proceeds benefitted Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Central Ohio's Camp Oty'Okwa and the Sierra Club of Central Ohio's Clean Water Campaign.) And then the fashion show started. Whaaat?
The theme for the show was "Art of Beauty," so eight of the segments were inspired by a famous artist. The ninth (or really, the first of the night, but the final one I'm mentioning) was called "The Artist's Muse." Advance apologies for the less-than-ideal photo quality...I'm still working with my old point-and-shoot (but the savings fund for a DSLR has been started!) and I was sitting a bit out to the side of the stage, farther away from the action. But a few people in my row left halfway through the show, so I was able to scoot in closer to the runway and get slightly better shots.
Also, these are just a few of the shots I took. You can see more in this album on my Facebook page! (And there are some good ones, I promise.)
The Muses:
Henri deToulouse-Lautrec
Georges Seurat
Pablo Picasso
Claude Monet
Vincent Van Gogh
Jackson Pollock
Georgia O'Keeffe
Andy Warhol
So the Pollock, Van Gogh and Warhol segments were definitely my favorites. But if you couldn't tell, I am totes in love with that dress in the Georgia O'Keeffe segment, too. Which ones (from here or Facebook?) did you like best?
Okay first, thanks to Kelly for letting me know that last week's link to my magazine story on spring fashion didn't go through. Womp womp. Here it is for reals. If you were semi-interested in checking it out. Now, on to the topic du jour...
This weekend, Matt and I and our friends Jay and Marcy all went to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky for a little weekend adventure. We headed down Friday night, camped at a climber's campground (Land of the Arches, holla!) that night, then climbed all day Saturday. We were there for only about 24 hours total, but it was SUCH a great weekend. I couldn't resist putting together a little Instagram-inspired collage of our collective awesome:
top-left: Matt climbing the A-Beano route at the Bruise Brothers crag
top-center: Jay on The Offering (Bruise Brothers)
top-right: Matt on Rising (Bruise Brothers)
middle-left: Matt on Rising (again)
middle-center: me on Eureka (Lady Slipper crag, Global Village wall)
middle-right: Matt on Eureka
bottom-left: me on Eureka
bottom-center: Marcy on Eureka
bottom-right: ...this rock looks like a sloth, right?
(If you want to see these pics closer up, you can check out my Flickr album here.
I went into the experience with fairly low expectations for myself; I've never done an outdoor climbing trip before, and climbing on real rock is very, very different from the artificial holds found at the sport climbing locations I'm used to. But I scrambled up our first route (Shawty on the Practice Wall, 20 feet, 5.8 rating that's is a bit harder than what I'm used to) and did a lot better on it than I thought I would.
From there we headed over to the Bruise Brothers crag, where we tackled A-Beano (30 feet, 5.7), The Offering (45 feet, 5.7) and CH4 (30 feet, 5.7). The Offering was my favorite of the whole day. It's higher than I've ever climbed before, which was both nerve-wracking and exhilarating. But the coolest part about it is that after you start it, the route traverses over to the right, over a huge overhang. So when you reach the top, you've climbed 45 feet...but you're really 80 feet or so from the ground directly below you. It was breathtaking. CH4 actually had another route over it called Rising (30 feet, 5.11a) that Matt attempted. It was a really hard route, and he was a little worn out from the morning's climbs, so he didn't quite make it. Still, the guy hung upside-down for three or four minutes at a time on each attempt. Pretty badass.
After some lunch and a little rest, we hiked over to the Global Village wall on the Lady Slipper crag. It was pretty late in the day, so we had the luxury of being the only people at that site (the others had been pretty crowded). Eureka is a 5.6, which is pretty easy, but it's an 85-foot climb. By that point in the day, I was so physically and mentally exhausted that I got about halfway up and started to lose it. It's a hell of a psychological battle to pull yourself up that high, hand over hand and foot over foot. I did manage to turn around and take in the view for half a second before being lowered. I'm a little bummed that I couldn't finish it (Matt, Jay and Marcy all did), but now I have a goal for next time! (At least, that's how I'm trying to look at it. I'm a bit competitive with/hard on myself when it comes to climbing.)
Anyway, safe to say I am already looking forward to our next trip to the Red! We've only scraped the surface of the awesomeness that that park has to offer :)
Note: I used Photoshop actions to give these snaps a little Instagram-inspired flair. You can download them here if you want.
Now, I always let you guys know when I get a free item of clothing or something. But sometimes, I host a giveaway (like this week's to the Earth Jam) and completely forget to mention that as part of hosting the giveaway, I get two tickets to Earth Jam myself, plus a free service at Nurtur. Seriously, I'm sorry. I'm the worst. Post has been updated to reflect that fact.
Ok, now that that embarrassing admission is out of the way, I can share with you all the fashion story I recently wrote for Columbus Monthly magazine! It's unfortunately a bit brief (I got way too excited and wrote way too much, so this just seems short to me now haha), but it was a lot of fun to research and write. Click here if you wanna read the piece – it's about getting your closet ready for spring fashion: what to keep, what to toss/donate, and what to buy new.
And because I feel guilty for not posting very many outfits this week, here's an outfit!
shirt: The Limited
blazer: thrifted
skinnies, flats: Target
necklace: InPink
And here's to hoping that these are my last indoor pics for the season! (And, I guess, my last Spazzy photobomb. Look at that silly cat.) Oh and hey, before I forget, any of you readers living in/around Columbus should definitely remember to enter my giveaway! It ends soon...
Aaaand that's all I have time for. Meeting a friend for drinks...and I'm already late, haha. Womp womp.
So if you've read this blog for any length of time, you might know about the love affair I have with the Aveda salon I go to here in town, Nurtur the Salon. Every year, Aveda salons celebrate Earth Month by having special events and raising money for various charities. In the Columbus area, the charity is the Central Ohio Sierra Club's Clean Water Campaign. And for Nurtur, the events are twofold.
First up is Beauty for the Earth, next Monday (the 22nd) from 11 am to 9 pm at both the Upper Arlington and Grandview Nurtur salons. At the Upper Arlington salon, you can get a haircut, facial or makeup application for $20. At the Grandview salon, you can get a haircut, color gloss or shampoo style for $20. All proceeds--you read that right, 100 percent of your $20, not to mention any additional donations--will benefit the Central Ohio Sierra Club Clean Water Campaign. Both salons will also have a bake sale, raffle baskets, an art silent auction, a giving tree and a prize wheel (You can read more about the giving tree and other cool things here.) Just make sure you call and schedule an appointment if you want a $20 service; spots fill up fast! (Addresses and phone numbers for both locations are available on the website, linked in the paragraph above.)
The second big event is the annual Earth Jam fashion show/fundraiser. It's a week from today (the 23rd), from 6:30 to 10 pm at the LC Pavilion in the Arena District. (You might remember my post and photos from last year. If you didn't catch it then, click over for a second. Go on. I'll wait.
You back? Ok. OMG HOW SWEET DOES THAT LOOK? Pretty sweet, I know. That hair! That makeup! Those clothes! I can say that, based on last year's show, this year's is not something you want to miss. It was a blast. This year, the beneficiary of the event's fundraising portions is Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio and its Camp Oty’Okwa in Hocking Hills, which focuses on educating children about the environment. So not only will you be entering raffles and bidding in live and silent auctions for the chance to win some truly incredible prizes, but the money you spend will benefit a truly awesome cause. On top of the auctions and fashion show, Earth Jam also will feature mini spa services (score!), door prizes (double score!) and an in-house DJ. Plus, I'll be there, so we can meet up! (Not that meeting me is nearly as sweet as the rest of that, but you know, I'm a little bit cool.)
You can buy tickets to (and find out some more info about) Earth Jam here. Or you can enter to win two tickets below!
(Giveaway runs from now until Friday, April 19, at midnight. I will contact you within 12 hours of the giveaway ending to arrange for a time to give you the tickets. Giveaway is open to anyone, but the show is here in Columbus, so please don't enter if you're not actually going to be in town on Tuesday :) Thanks!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
UPDATE! I got free stuff for hosting this. Namely, two tickets to Earth Jam and a free service at Nurtur. Sorry, guys. I'm not trying to be sneaky, I promise.
Hi everyone. As I'm sure you've heard, there was a tragedy in Boston today. I wanted to get a giveaway started this evening, but I just don't feel right being frivolous and bloggy in light of the bombing. I haven't found any relief effort funds yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to post them. In the meantime, please take a moment to send your prayers (or, if you don't pray, your positive thoughts/vibes/energy) to those affected.
Well, I've just been a little bundle of productivity this week. Another freelance project came into my inbox, about Columbus' art scene this time. It's a tight deadline, but it should be a lot of fun to write. (For those of you who were interested in the fashion piece I mentioned a while back, that link will be up here soon!) Anyway, I stayed home tonight to tackle some stuff, get a head start on this project and have a long-overdue Skype date with by bff Emily...and I've only just now realized that I haven't yet posted the recipe I wanted to post today!
So here's a Food Friday post, just a half-hour shy of Saturday. This is slightly adapted from a Real Simple magazine recipe. Sorry for the poor photo; Matt and I were halfway through this meal when I realized it was a) good enough to blog and b) hadn't been blogged yet! Matt graciously allowed me to take pictures of his food, since his plate still had all the ingredients on it (I had already eaten all my pork).
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
- 2 tablespoons butter
- salt
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 boneless pork chops, about one inch thick
- 1/2 bell pepper
- 5 or 6 green onions
- sesame seeds
- kebab skewers (we have metal ones, but wood ones will work too)
If you're using wood skewers, soak them in water for at least 15 minutes. While they're soaking, preheat your oven to 450 degrees (make sure the top rack is on the highest slot) and bring two cups of water to a boil in a pot.
While you're waiting for the water to boil, chop the bell pepper and green onions into one-inch pieces, and cut the pork into one-and-a-half-inch pieces.
When the water starts boiling, also add a healthy dash of salt, the cilantro and the butter. Once the butter's melted, add the rice, then cover and simmer over low heat until the rice is cooked (usually about 15-20 minutes or so).
While the rice is cooking, combine the hoisin sauce and rice vinegar (both of which can be found in the Asian or international section of most grocery stores) in a bowl. Line a baking sheet with foil, then thread the pork and veggies onto the skewers and place on the foil. Drizzle with half of the hoisin mixture and bake for about five minutes. Turn the skewers, drizzle again and bake for another four minutes or so. (Don't worry if the pork is a teensy bit underdone in the center; new studies have shown that it's perfectly safe to eat pork slightly rare. And that's always better than overdone and chewy!)
Just before serving, sprinkle sesame seeds over the skewers and over the rice. Cause sesame seeds are delicious and there's basically no such thing as too much sesame, if you ask me.
I love this meal because it's so freaking easy, and it's fast, and it's delicious. As evidenced by the fact that I was halfway through it before I realized photos were necessary. Enjoy!
I'm weird about taking sick days. Usually I feel like I'm dying in the morning (no joke, I was actually in tears as I tried to get ready this morning), but by the afternoon I'm usually feeling human again. Today is no exception. I still feel crappy, but at least I'm no longer curled up in a fetal position, whimpering softly while my cat gives me the most concerned look a cat can muster. (Yes, that happened today.)
Anyway, I've just been sitting here in bed with my laptop, and I realized something. I forgot my own blog-iversary. Now here it is, two days past my two-year mark, and I don't even have an outfit post in reserve to celebrate. How sad is that? Well, in the grand scheme of things, I guess it's really not sad at all. But in bloggerworld, where #bloggerproblems rule, it's pretty pathetic.
Fun fact: April is officially my month of anniversaries. My two-year blogiversary was on Monday, and my one-year work anniversary is at the end of this month. Also at the end of this month is Matt's and my five-year anniversary of dating. Wow.
And me being me, anniversaries tend to make me go all retrospective and nostalgic. So in lieu of an outfit post, you guys get a whole lot of words. Woohoo?
Two years ago, I was still a semi-new college graduate. I had finally landed a job I enjoyed, and was comfortable enough in it that I was ready for a new hobby (which is how this blog came about). I knew I would never be able to limit my blog to just one topic, so I embraced my tendency to get easily distracted and started chronicling my adventures in the worlds of personal style, food, home décor, DIY, and (eventually) personal finance. One of my first posts proposed a toast: To success, be it self-discovery or Internet semi-fame. I'm no blogger sensation, but I think I've definitely achieved the self-discovery succes in pretty much every area.
Style. When I started this blog, I had no real sense of style; I just wore slacks and whatever shirt my fingers touched first when I was getting dressed. Some days I mixed it up with a black skirt. My wardrobe was boring and I was bored with it. Now, there are still days that I just throw on whatever's easiest, but there are more days when I try to create something. My shopping habits have gotten a lot better, too. I used to buy whatever caught my eye, or items that I thought I was "supposed" to have in a professional wardrobe. (Seriously, who needs eight bajillion button-down Oxfords?) Now, I consider potential purchases, weighing them against what I already own, thinking about remix possibilities and longevity.
Food. Oh man. I've tried a lot of new recipes over the past two years, though at the moment I'm working with a six-week rotating menu of Matt's and my faves. I don't know if I'd say I've really "grown" in this area, though I certainly do eat a lot more veggies than I did a few years ago. So, improvement?
Home décor. This was a hard one, mostly because decorating a home, even if it's a tiny apartment, takes money. Which as you all know, I don't have a whole lot of. But my landlord recently complimented my decorating skills (in the most misogynistic way possible, but I'll overlook that), and I've definitely noticed a maturation in the way I approach our living space. Our first apartment featured white walls and posters hung up with sticky-tack. This one has a few painted rooms, framed art and a general color palate. When we move again in August, I'm hoping to convey a more cohesive palate and a real sense of who Matt and I are through decorating. So consider this a disclaimer: There will be a LOT more décor-related posts in the second half of this year :)
DIY. I've completed a few projects, and some of them actually turned out pretty well. (Framed Ikea-inspired art, homemade curtains.) Others turned out horribly, but they were great learning experiences. With the recent opening of a sewing co-op near our house (where you can rent sewing machines by the hour), not to mention a new, larger apartment to decorate, I expect to be able to accomplish many more DIY projects in the coming months/years.
Money/personal finance. Surprisingly, this is the area I feel where I've grown the most. I say "surprisingly" for two reasons: First, it wasn't an initial angle I intended to pursue here, and second, I've had a major spending problem for pretty much my entire life. In just two years, I've evolved from someone who spends money the second she gets it and then keeps spending to create outrageous amounts of debt, to someone who budgets a year in advance, plans all major purchases and hesitates to plunk down more than $50 on anything, ever. I stopped impulse-buying by forcing myself to sit on any non-budgeted purchase for at least 48 hours. I have a savings account! With money in it! Not enough to cover me for three to six months of living expenses, but enough for at least one month, or one major car repair. I went from being thousands of dollars in debt to being just six months away from having no debt at all. (Fair warning: When I do send in that last payment in October, expect a long, celebratory, rambling post about how excited I am. Whether you actually read it or not is up to you.)
Speaking of rambling, I'm kind of going off here still. I guess I'll stop giving you all eye strain, if you've even read this far. And if you have, thanks! You're a real trooper. Here's a gold star.
chambray, jacket: thrifted
skinnies, flats: Target
belt, necklace, bracelet: H&M
You guys, I think spring has finally arrived. Today I got to experience a balmy 71 degrees and it. was. glorious. But here's the weird thing about Ohio. The lows on Friday night reached down to 29. Wednesday is looking like it'll see a high of 81...and then Friday, we're back to high 48/low 37. Seriously, Ohio? It's spring. Stop trying to pretend otherwise.
You wanna know how I know what Friday's low temp was? Well, I looked it up, but I also lived it, man. One of our friends' parents has some land outside of town, so Matt and I and about 20 of our friends camped out Friday night. There was a little pond, a campfire and lots of grilling/toasting. (And booze. There was quite a bit of booze as well.) But it was freeeeezing. I'm talking leggings under jeans under sweatpants. Two shirts, hoodie and a down jacket. Gloves and a hat. In other words, way too freakin' cold for April.
Sleeping actually wasn't too bad...for Matt and me. We had a nice, snug little tent, five layers of blankets, and super warm sleeping bags that were actually rated for that kind of weather, thankfully. Others weren't so fortunate...two people in a big four-person tent shivered all night because they only brought one comforter. For once, I was pretty glad to be one of those "just in case" types, haha.
Now that the weather is picking up a bit, our calendars are really filling up. We're planning a few fun trips in the coming weeks/months.(I don't really want to talk about them specifically until after the fact--not trying to broadcast to the world, Hey we're gonna be out of town on X days! Come rob us!) But I can't wait to blog them afterward!
Ok, so I'm all about transparency and accountability (working for the government will do that to a person, I guess), so I'm going to own up to something: I blew my March budget to pieces. It was horrible. It was — quite literally — one of the worst months, budget-wise, I've had since graduating college. I'm not quite sure what happened; maybe visiting my sister put me in such a giddy mood that I overspend on everything else. Maybe I was just so bored (or should I say, am so bored) of cold weather that I spend money to make up for the lack of sunshine in my life. Whatever it was, it was terrible.
Remember that reasonable, only-$7-over-and-with-a-return-actually-$30-under clothes budget I posted about two weeks ago? Yeah, screwed that one up royally. I spoke too soon and ended up being about $65 over. And it wasn't like I bought a really great closet staple or a fun statement piece. First, I went with the gift card refund on the dress from eShakti instead of the dress, because the gift card is worth 20% more than the original purchase. Then, I promptly forgot that I didn't opt for cash back, and re-spent that $38 on a cute t-shirt at JCPenney ($10) and some slightly-gauged hoops at Hot Topic. ($13) The ball on my cartilage piercing fell out and I wanted to replace the hoop in my tragus as well, so I figured, $13 for a half-dozen new hoops was a good deal.
Lesson of the day: Seriously, don't buy body jewelry at Hot Topic. It's crap. I ended up having to go to a local piercing/tattoo shop here in Columbus to spend $30 on two quality hoops. At least the balls on these hoops are attached on one end, so I can't loose them again. There is a good chance I will wear these earrings for the next several years without ever taking them out. (If anyone in Columbus is interested, I went to Evolved. The staff was wonderful, the selection was great and they even switched out the piercings free of charge so I wouldn't have to clumsy-finger it at home.
Anyway, clothing wasn't the only category I grossly overspent on. I was also more than $100 over my grocery budget (usually set at $200) and $60 over my eating out/bars/fun stuff budget (also usually $200). All in all, I'm pretty disappointed in myself.
Maybe I'm being too hard on myself because I had a stressful, crap day at work. But part of me worries that if I don't beat myself up at least a little, I'll spend all willy-nilly again this month and the next month and the next...
I guess I should give myself at least some credit. If I overspent that much two years ago, I would have been in a panic. I would have been cramming expenses onto a nearly-maxed out credit card, asking to borrow money, panicking. Now, I'm mostly just annoyed at myself. So I guess that's a plus?
blazer, button-up blouse: thrifted
cardi: The Limited
pants: really old, don't remember
flats, necklace: Target
Okay first, I'd like to address the elephant in the room/on this post: Holy crap these photos are freaking awful. I was in a rush, I was probably tired, and I'll be honest, this sweater mysteriously shrank and I was ready to get that straightjacket off. So, sorry for the terrible quality. Hopefully you can look past it and imagine this outfit in its IRL glory. Cause I liked it a lot, aside from the whole compressing-my-arms-and-torso-into-sausages thing.
So anyway, do y'all remember my Pin-spiration Monday posts that I was doing for a while late last year/early this year? No? That's okay, I pretty much forgot about them too. Until now... So anyway, I've seen a few bloggers do this look before, most recently Audrey over at Putting Me Together. Please note how much better it looks on her, probably because she doesn't decide to replicate this look at the last minute, realize the damn sweater doesn't fit but wear it anyway because she spent the last 10 minutes sitting in front of her closet pouting, unable to think of something blog-worthy to wear, and she has to put on some form of clothing RIGHT NOW or she'll miss the bus or worse, not get her coffee. Not like that's what happened to me or anything...
Also, this is the first time I've embedded a pin on the ol' blog since they updated the embed functions, and can I just say that I really hate it? Because I really hate it. I just want the image, not the description and the name of the board I pinned too... :/ Plus, now you have to embed the JavaScript on any page the embedded pin appears? Wtf?
