Happy Labor Day!

chambray-type shirt: Banana Republic
ruffled shirt: thrifted
cropped pants: New York & Company
heels: Target
necklace: Etsy

If the purpose of Labor Day is to not do labor, then I haven't been celebrating in full force. After I met my friends for brunch at Katalina's (Columbusites, you have to try their Nutella-filled pancake balls. You have to), I headed home and hung seven shades and four windows' worth of curtains. I would have hung six windows' worth, but I'm an idiot who can't math and therefore didn't get a long enough curtain rod. Womp womp. Oh well, a new one is en route, and I can still use the too-short one. Minor success?

Now I'm sitting at Panera getting a quick late lunch/dinner number one after running a few errands...then it's off to the grocery store, then Goodwill to drop off some things, then home to do some cleaning. Oh vey. Can I get a vacation from my day off?

If you had today off work...how did you spend it? Hopefully doing more fun stuff than I did, haha!

Overly excited

tank, cropped pants: The Limited
chambray-style shirt thing: Banana Republic
heels: Target
necklace: gifted
You guys, can we just take a minute to appreciate how great these photos turned out? I practically didn't have to edit them at all; the lighting was pretty much PERFECT. I can't get over it. I feel like I'm more excited about this than I should be, haha. #stylebloggerproblems, maybe? Am I the only one who geeks out when photos turn out unexpectedly well?

Ok, so I have to admit...I Photoshopped the kiddie pools out of the edge of the frame. Don't judge us for having kiddie pools in the backyard, kay? The house doesn't have A/C.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the aforementioned Fall Out Boy concert (omgomgcantwaitcauseimadork), but I'm pre-scheduling a Food Fridays post because I haven't done a food post in a while. And teaser: it's one of my favorite dishes, so you'll DEF wanna come back and check it out :)

Vacation (part 2)

(Like the Grumpy Cat, only unfortunately not as awesome)

shirt, belt: H&M
chambray-style-thingy: Banana Republic
skinnies, flats: Target
necklace: The Limited
Remembering to take outfit photos on vacation is hard. And awkward. You think you can be sneaky about it, throwing the camera at your boyfriend while you're sister and brother-in-law take the dog out for a bathroom break. You frantically pose, hoping the door won't open mid-snap. And then it does, and you're embarrassed for no good reason because everyone you know knows about your blog because you talk about it embarrassingly often. So yeah, that's pretty much what happened here.

If you're thinking to yourself, self, that outfit looks a lot like the one in yesterday's post, well, you're right. And I didn't realize the similarities while packing, so there you go. I wore this to brunch, but apparently in the south, brunch is something you're supposed to wear a dress to, so I was kind of underdressed. But like I said yesterday, that food was so damn good...it was easy to pretend that I was just as fancy as everyone else.

These were the only two outfits I was able to/remembered to get photos of, but the others were kind of repeats. If you're interested, I did a variation of this outfit, only with these skinny jeans and moto-style boots, for the trip down and the first night out. The trip back featured this outfit, again with the same skinny jeans and boots. I can't believe I've never really worn those boots on the blog before (well, I did for Halloween but they were rolled up and not really cute at all). So here's a pic.

Uhh, Walmart. Can you believe it? Because I couldn't.

So fellow bloggers, tell me. Do you take outfit pics on vacation? Or is your vacay a break from blogging, too?

Yay photos, boo allergies

dress: H&M (thrifted)
cardi, belt, tights: Target
shoes: Payless
necklace: Banana Republic, I think?
This week, I've been going out with my friend Chasity (one of the girls who live upstairs that I've mentioned) to take outfit photos. At first, it was a little awkward, of course, but today we went down to the park at the end of our street and got some really awesome shots. I can't wait to show them to you guys! (She's even editing them for me, so I might actually have some professional-blog-quality photos on here soon. I'm a little excited.)

This outfit really makes me feel like fall is pretty much in full swing. It's been getting steadily chillier (until a weird warm day today), but it's definitely tights season. In other news, allergies are kicking my tail. Things have been a little rough the last few mornings, and as I type I have to pause every so often to sniffle a bit. Ugh. I'm just gonna curl up in my sweats and watch me some Grey's Anatomy with those upstairs girls :)

Everybody, Everywear: Green

It's Everybody, Everywear time again! Which means my photos were taken and edited in a hurry this morning before work, and I probably definitely have goofy faces in some of them. Hooray! (Except for that last one. The last one is golden.)






green chambray: Banana Republic
t-shirt: Old Navy
skirt, belt, heels: thrifted
necklace: New York & Company
bracelet: street vendor in NYC
You may notice that I'm outside. For the first time in months, I was able to take my photos outside. And you know something? I'm not wearing a coat to work today. Not even my lightweight spring trench. Because it is B-E-A-YOOOTIFUL outside and it's gonna hit 70 degrees this afternoon and I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED!!!

Sorry.

That's what spring does to me.

Want to hear a funny story? Well, as some of you may know, I have ridiculously vivid and random dreams on a fairly regular basis. Last night, I dreamt that I was talking to Spazzy (my cat, to you EBEW newcomers). That's actually a fairly common occurrence in real life. But in the dream, she talked back. In Jane Lynch's voice. Jane-Lynch-Spazcat and I had a full conversation. And the weirdest part was, I thought to myself, Wow, this is the coolest thing ever. I'm definitely awake right now. Wait till I tell everyone!

Yeah. Weird.

Weekend happenings

Tuesday isn't too late for a weekend recap, is it? I say nay. Even though I had quite the busy weekend, I still didn't get quite as much done as I had hoped. (Isn't that always the case?) But I did manage to run up to David's Bridal to buy a bridesmaid dress, stop by JoAnn Fabric and a Halloween store for costume supplies (hint: Matt and I are cross-dressing to go as a cartoon couple), get started on sewing said costumes (by hand! ugh) and work two full shifts at the restaurant/bar. In fact, I think I'll have to do an awkward/awesome post on Thursday just to detail some of the weekend. But anyway.

Matt and I also carved pumpkins! By far one of my favorite things about Halloween is carving pumpkins (and baking the delicious seeds...YUM). Can you guess which one I did?


Yeah, not too hard to guess on that one, haha. Matt went a bit metal with his. I love the effect he created by carving some thin lines, instead of actual cutouts. And the 3D horns are pretty cool too! I still think mine is fun, though.


I also got the curtain tutorial started. Just have to find a spare minute to edit those photos...sigh. Anyway, I've some outfit photos too! Because you know, I couldn't go two full days posting non-style things :)






chambray shirt: Banana Republic
tank: Old Navy
black jeggings: The Limited
belt: thrifted
shoes: Payless
trench: Esprit via Burlington Coat Factory
Clearly, I still refuse to listen to the "keep the light behind the camera" rule. When will I learn? Also, can we call these pants cigarette pants? Because I really want to. Just sounds cooler, amiright?

Split minds

Every morning when I get dressed, I compose a blog post in my head that corresponds to the outfit I'm wearing. I think about talking points, like how I almost paired a different shirt or necklace with the outfit, or a funny story about an item I'm wearing.

But by the time I actually post the outfit, a few days to a week later, I've almost always forgotten what talking points I had thought up and inevitably wind up talking about something else. Like with this outfit, I'm sure I had intended to say something about how I'm not sure if this all-neutrals outfit is chic or if it just makes me look washed out. But all I want to talk about this morning is how Spazzy keeps staring at me and mewing, and how stinking cute she is.






button down: New York & Company
cami: Old Navy
capris: Target
shoes: Franco Sarto via Marshall's
necklace: Banana Republic
Sometimes I remember what talking points I had wanted to touch upon, and then it starts to compete with whatever's going on at the moment I'm writing, and the post winds up sounding like two different people wrote it. Which I'm sure is rather weird to read, particularly if you can't follow my train of thought. (But don't feel bad if you can't...few people can. Even Matt makes me stop for clarification at times, haha.)

Oh well. Spazzy is now asleep next to me on the couch, and there's more adorableness going on there, so I think I'm just going to forget about my split-personality blogging habits and bug her for a little bit :)

Forgetful me

Silly me forgot to put up these photos from Saturday. The plan was to post these yesterday, but I was completely overwhelmed and overexcited by the fact that our New York City vacation is officially back on! I absolutely love the city, and Matt's never been, so we're both super excited that the trip isn't cancelled after all. My aunt and uncle live in New Jersey, about an hour outside the city, and we'll be staying with them. It's going to be lovely :)

(On a related note...would anyone like to guest-post for me while I'm gone? Email me: verbal{dot}melange{at}gmail{dot}com.

And now, here's what I wore on Saturday:

items: 7, 16, 30
belt: thrifted
necklace: Claire's, about five years ago (haha)

First, I just want to say again how much I looooove these shoes. Every time I put them on, I smile because I remember they're Banana Republic and they only cost me $15. Thanks, Rag-o-rama :)

Anyway, Saturday I went to my friend's going away party. He got a job out in Santa Fe, working for a weekly newspaper. Super jealous, and super, super sad to see him go. This guy hired me for my first real-world job...*sniff* But the part was a lot of fun, and I know he'll do really well out in the southwest. Best of luck to you, Reyan!

The little things

Sorry for the poor photo quality today guys...it's raining/thunderstorming outside, and it's supposed to carry on all day, so no dice on outdoor photos. Oh, well. This outfit isn't anything spectacular, anyway ;)

On the bright side, I got to lie in bed and listen to thunderstorms all morning. I really do love that. It's the little things.

items: 6, 15, 28
necklace: Banana Republic...I think the latter
bangles: H&M

Man, I need to make a trip to F21 and H&M as soon as this challenge is over. And the thrift store. The thing is, my 30 items are about 1/3 of my closet, and they're some of the items I wear most often anyway. So I definitely feel like I need a little wardrobe refresh. Just a few things here and there.

Speaking of "the little things" (well, I was earlier anyway), I had a great one yesterday too. See, most of this week has been one disappointment or annoyance after another, and I've been really, really stressed out. So after work yesterday, Matt and I met up with a friend from OU (the same one from "guy time" yesterday, haha) and we went down to the climbing wall at the Scioto Audubon park. I love that park more than any other place in the city, I think. So I got a good route in, then I decided to be really gutsy and try lead climbing for the first time ever.

For those who are rusty on your climbing terminology, lead climbing is far more difficult from top-rope climbing. In top-rope, your rope is looped through an anchor at the top of the route, so it goes from your harness, up to the anchor, then down to the person who is belaying you. (The belayer is the one who keeps the rope taut so if you fall, you don't fall far.) In lead climbing, there is no top anchor. Instead, the rope goes from your harness straight to the belayer. You climb up the wall and hook into several bolts that are placed on the face of the wall itself as you go. This means, if you fall, you will probably fall much farther, and harder. Lead climbing forces you to rely on your skill alone, instead of relying on the rope to hold you up.

It's terrifying.

But it's also incredibly rewarding. There were several points where I honestly didn't think I'd make it to the top. And I even took a fall (albeit a small one--just a few feet). But somehow, I made it. Every muscle in my arms and my legs was kind of twitching by the time I got lowered to the ground, haha. But it was an amazing feeling to know that even if I think I can't do something, I can somehow find the strength to push on. And that doesn't have to be physical; it can be a mental strength as well.

Sorry for the rant. I am just super excited about my climb. And about the boost it gave me :) Do you have anything that gets you pumped up like that?

Happy Fourth of July!

I knew, going into this 30x30 challenge, that weekends would be difficult for me. I’m the kind of person who likes to laze around on the weekends. Saturday, I didn’t get dressed until 9 pm. That’s right, I wore my PJs for the vast majority of the day. Am I embarrassed of that fact? Not in the slightest.

Since Matt and I decided to meet a few friends at the bar Saturday evening, I changed out of my PJs and into this simple little number. I love the tank top-jeans-heels combo...it feels very America’s Next Top Model. (You know how, during the judgement phase, Tyra seems to prefer the models to wear simple outfits like this? You mean you don't all watch ANTM marathons on weekends? Really?) Doesn’t hurt that these heels make me an even 6 feet tall ;)

items: 14, 15, 30
necklace: The Limited
clutch: Laura Arens

I also decided to combine corniness, trendiness and patriotism in my manicure. (The trendy is the one nail painted different…I really like it!) Painting my nails for the holidays always makes me feel a little corny/silly, but I figure, that’s half the fun, right?

Yesterday, we’re going with some friends to the lake. One of them has a little Airstream camper...you know, those silver bubble-looking things. Technically, it’s his parents, but they let us all crash there on the weekends. They have a platoon boat too, so we basically just grab some beers (wine in my case, I’m classy like that) and float around on the water all day.

Matt and I usually sleep in our tent, since the camper is pretty tiny. But since we’re car camping, we bring tons of extra blankets and whatnot to sleep on, so it’s actually pretty comfy.

But this trip meant I didn't wear any of my 30 items yesterday. They’re just not lake-and-sleeping-in-a-tent-quality. But I’ll probably double up with two outfits in one day again, or I’ll just stretch the challenge and end it a day or two later than everyone else. I’m loving the flexibility of it!

Tonight we're going to a Fourth party, so I'll have another outfit to post in the morning. Maybe tonight, if I'm not completely exhausted. Until then... :)

More thrift love

Remember those awesome shoes I mentioned? The ones I miraculously found at Rag-o-rama, just sitting on the shelf, waiting to be discovered? These are those shoes. And I love, love, love them.

Shirt: Old Navy
Jeans: Guess via Macy's
Shoes: Banana Republic via Rag-o-rama
Necklace: Figleaf

The funny thing is, they're four-inch heels and they're really not all that uncomfortable. Yet another reason why they're awesome.

I wore this Memorial Day weekend, when I went out to a party with my friend Jade. She took these photos; courtesy Jade L. White Photography.

Take two?

Well, still no sign of my lost posts coming back, so I'm going to try to re-create them. I happened to have the copy from my outfit post saved, but I'll have to re-write the food post. Blerg. In other news, here's the outfit post from last Thursday.

Button down: Banana Republic
Cami: Old Navy
Capri/short things: New York and Company
Shoes: Mossimo via Target
Necklace: Tiffany
Bracelet: American Eagle?

This necklace is one of the nicest pieces of jewelry I own. My aunt gave it to me as a college graduation present. The second I saw the Tiffany blue box, I cried. No joke. It was pretty exciting. I can't remember where I got this bracelet, on the other hand. Just like most of the rest of my jewelry.

In other news, Jill mentioned yesterday how great it is to have a bit of wind when doing blog shoots, and I have to agree. When I took these photos, there was just enough of a breeze to make things interesting...but not so much that my hair or shirt got out of hand. Lovely :)