Happy worst-holiday-ever-invented!

I'm not gonna lie, I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day. I always managed to get fewer cards in my box in elementary school, and I'm not even gonna start on the horrors of dating-age Valentine's Days. (Though I will say that in college alone, I drunkenly ran into my ex at a bar and made a fool of myself one year, then almost had to go to the hospital the next while making dinner for Matt. Suffice to say the holiday has not treated me well.)

This year, Matt is currently en route to Louisiana for work. We did celebrate last weekend, and I came home last night to a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me, so I suppose things could be worse :)



Still. I definitely have a love-hate relationship with the holiday, and I think I somehow channeled that into my outfit today. There's a good balance of cynical black and romantic pink and red, haha.






button-up and sweater: New York & Company
skirt: The Limited
tights: Target
pumps: thrifted
necklace: Tiffany & Co (gift from my aunt)
I have to say, I've never been a big fan of the pink and red combo that's so trendy right now. Not sure why, but it's always kind of bugged me. But when I woke up this morning, I decided to face the EBEW challenge head on, stretching myself ever so slightly out of my comfort zone. And you know what? I don't hate it.

Linked to:

Bloggers Do It Better: Animal Print

This one is debatable...the fact that I "do it better," that is. This outfit seems pretty plain Jane to me. Which, I suppose, is an accomplishment; how many other people can make animal print boring? Probably not many. A dubious distinction.




shirt: Forever 21
cami and shoes: Target
slacks: New York & Company
necklace: gift from Matt

The truth is, this was my fourth backup. I'm a bit of a procrastinator, you see. (Understatement of the year.) My first choice was this leopard print shoe from Target. I've been wanting leopard flats for AGES, but I hate buying shoes online (my right foot is slightly larger than my left, so I fluctuate from a 9 to 9.5 to 10, depending on which foot is more comfortable) and these shoes are online only, so no dice. Sad, though...they're kind of perfect.

Source: target.com via Emma on Pinterest

Then I wanted to get a leopard tunic from F21 after Sydney told me they had some great choices. But it's sold out, so I can't even show you a photo because F21 is lame like that.

So on to the third choice...this really cute zebra-ish top. I kind of love it. But alas, it is another of the "we have it online but not in the actual store sucks to be you" category.

Source: forever21.com via Emma on Pinterest

Oh, well. I will probably end up getting all three of these eventually...they're affordable, and I like them enough to pay full price, and I doubt thrift stores are carrying much (stylish) animal print these days anyway.

And on the up side? Spazzy loves this shirt. She has her face buried in my stomach as I type. Call it animal attraction? (Har har)

BDIB: Arm Party

I just love this phrase. Arm party. I think it's hysterical. What I find even more amusing, however, is that this trend is something I used to do back in high school. I even used the DIY friendship bracelet idea to create my arm party, which is what a lot of people are doing now, too. I was going to whip up a few friendship bracelets and wrap some old bangles with string for today's Bloggers Do It Better challenge, but I didn't have the time to run to the store to get embroidery thread, let alone actually make a few of those bad boys. I guess, for now, they'll remain a nostalgic memory for me.

tunic: Artifacts Gallery in Athens, Ohio
tank: Walmart
shorts: New York & Company
shoes: Payless
bracelets: don't remember where I got ANY of them, haha

The only think I don't really like about the arm party? My arm is constantly jingling at my desk as I type at work all day. Boo.

Well, Matt and I board our train to New York City tonight! We're leaving Kitty (who still doesn't have an official name) with a few friends, and our neighbor is keeping an eye on the apartment (so don't try breaking in, creepy people who might read this, haha). I have a few awesome guest posts lined up between now and Monday, so make sure you stop by to check those out!

Also, I dyed my hair last night. I was well overdue for a touchup! But I still have about a week's worth of outfits from pre-hairdye, so expect a few changes in apparent hair color over the next few days ;)

Until next week...stay well, readers!

An update!

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was considering dropping a couple items from my 30 and replacing them with others. Well, I wound up doing just that. After all, who needs eight pairs of shoes for a remix challenge?? That's overkill.

So I dropped two pairs of shoes and added in a pair of long pants that I can wear to work (and cuff up when it gets hot again, hehe) and a coverup. I wore both items today, because the magazine is doing a luncheon thing at a hotel downtown, and I wanted to look professional rather than trendy. So here it is:

items: 24, 13, 23, 27
watch: Walmart

That would be my "oops" face. As in "oops, should have thought about how many shoes I included in my 30" :)

In other news, it's not even 10 and I know today is going to be long and stressful. It's a great feeling.

Update: Just realized this works for the Bloggers Do It Better assignment of neon and neutrals. Go me! Really though, I'm excited to finally jump on that bandwagon.