If you follow me on Instagram, then maybe you saw this photo I posted last night:
That's right! My insurance claim was finally processed, so I went out and snapped up my new Macbook. (Using the credit card that earns me Amazon points, which I will promptly pay off when my check is deposited on Friday. Free money, woop woop! Also, new computer, woop woop times infinity!)
I also decided to try to re-install my Adobe Creative Suite. I knew if I was able to install it, that would mean the pawn shop had uninstalled all my software on my old computer in addition to wiping my other info from it. And sure enough, Adobe installed! So good news all around.
It seems fitting, then, that I'm down to the last photos from my point-and-shoot camera. And they happen to be from the morning that all this ish went down. I've been kind of avoiding these pics, to be honest, and for a while I thought I wouldn't post them at all. But not posting them won't change anything, and I'm sick of letting fear and regret dictate my choices and actions. So here they are.
button-down: New York & Company
dress: eShakti
nude shoes: Franco Sarto via Marshall's
silver shoes: DSW
necklace: gifted
The top photo is what I had planned to wear to work that day. I stuck the heels in my bag because walking long distances in them is pretty awful, so I was wearing flip flops. (Yes, I tried to chase down a thief wearing flips flops and a dress.) Needless to say, those nude shoes are gone. I would up wearing the silver ones when I went to work for a few hours that day in a vain attempt to distract myself.
I suppose the silver lining to losing those Franco Sartos is that I didn't wear them much because the heel height was a bit too much for me...and my insurance pays out replacement value for items, so they gave me $95 for these shoes instead of the $25 or so I paid. So, that's cool, I guess.
Those bottom two side-by-side photos, by the way, are what I wore to my sister's high school graduation party. It's so crazy to think that she's going to college in just about a month--but she's going to my alma mater, so I'll have plenty of excuses to visit her ;)
dress: c/o eShakti
heels: Franco Sarto via Marshall's
bracelets: handmade in Uganda (fundraiser purchase)
ring: TaDa.com
First, I know that this dress looks gray, but it's definitely purple, I promise. Someday, I'll photograph it proper light, I swear. It's frustrating when outfits don't show up on camera the way they do in real life, isn't it? (Where are my fellow bloggers? You know what I'm talking about.)
Anyway, I wore this last Friday to Matt's sister's wedding rehearsal dinner. Even though this dress is wool, it's surprisingly light and comfortable, which is great because dinner was a several-hour-long gathering filled with wine, good company and great conversation. (Come to think of it, I feel like those three tend to go hand in hand, don't they?)
Saturday was, of course, the wedding. It was so unbelievably gorgeous; Matt's sister, Beth, looked like she came straight from 1940s Hollywood. I didn't get a chance to get a photo with her (she and her new husband were busy socializing with the other 150 guests, of course), but after the ceremony I pulled Matt aside for a quick snap of my outfit with my phone.
dress: Lily Boutique
scarf-as-shawl, necklace, clutch: Target
shoes: DSW
bracelet: Forever 21
ring: TaDa.com
This dress is actually kind of the reason why I don't shop online very often. When I first saw this dress on Pinterest, I immediately fell completely in love. I waited literally four weeks for it to come back in stock, then pounced on it the second it was available. On the mannequin, the dress looks great. Classy. Elegant. On me, it looks so short as to be almost a little...wel...inappropriate. Almost.
But when I wrapped this scarf around my shoulders, shawl-like, it added some modesty to the outfit and kept it from showing too much skin. Low(er) heels helped with that, too. Maybe next time I'll try it with a pair of opaque tights, to balance out the shortness, and leave my arms bare. Hm...
shirt: secondhand
short-sleeve Oxford, cropped pants: New York & Company
shoes: DSW
hair flower: H&M
necklace: super old, don't remember
This morning, Matt left for a week-and-a-half trip to Utah to hike through the Rocky Mountains. It's such a cool opportunity for him, and I'm happy that he has the chance to do this, but a big part of me won't rest easy until he's home safely. It's the longest hike he's been on (try three times as long as any other he's done) and at a much higher elevation, with a much higher difficulty level. He and his friend are both excellent at "surviving" (what they prefer to call camping/hiking), and I know they're more than capable of this trip. But still. It's gonna be a long almost-two-weeks all by my lonesome. It's the longest we've been apart in years, and it'll be the longest we'll go without talking since we started dating, as he doesn't have a cell phone signal at 15,000 feet.
Le sigh. Anyway. This outfit. Some lady at the grocery store just walked up to me and complimented me on this hair flower. It was a random impulse purchase as I was checking out at H&M...the day I bought it, I wore it clipped to my cardigan. Multifunctional!
These are the shoes I picked up to wear to Abby's wedding, instead of these guys. I'm thinking about selling them, because they're a tad too large and too tall and I can't really walk in them very well. Anyone wear a size 10? (Ally, I'm lookin' at you!)
shirt: Old Navy
vest: thrifted
skirt: The Limited
heels: DSW
necklace: Forever 21
Oh, these shoes. I love them, but I also kinda hate them. I bought them to wear in my sister's wedding next month, off the clearance rack at DSW. They felt a teensy bit too big...but I figured a size 10 really wasn't that much different from a 9.5, and there weren't any smaller sizes left, so I just went for it. For $30, it didn't seem like a big deal.
Except the damn shoes just don't fit. Now, I'm pretty terrible at walking in four-inch heels to begin with, so when they're ill-fitting it's an even worse scenario. I've stuffed lamb's wool into the toes, added a heel insert and a stuck in a ball-of-the-foot-slidy-preventer-thing. And while they do technically stay on my feet, I have to walk reeeeeeeally slowly in them.
I figure, for the wedding it won't be a big deal. All I have to do is walk semi-slowly down the aisle, stand up there for a bit, then walk semi-slowly back down (with a groomsman to support me, no less). After that it's just posing for photos, then I can kick these puppies off and switch to some comfy flops. It's a shame these don't fit better, though. They're pretty damn cute.
Well, not much time for chit-chat this morning. I just spent the last 15 minutes trying to fix my computer, instead of writing this post. It wouldn't connect to the internet, then it wouldn't shut down properly. But everything seems to be working now. Phew!
This jacket? Wound up not wearing it at all that day. Oops :) Oh and these heels? Bought them to wear in my sister's wedding in July. LOVE. Apparently they're from Fergie's line but I got them at DSW for $30. Epic score.
When I first saw Lady Gaga's "Marry the Night" video, part of the intro left me a little dubious. See, she talked about how mint was supposed to be a big trend come spring of 2012. And all I could think was, "I just don't know if I can get on board with this one."
Boy, was I wrong.
Turns out, I love this color on me. My nails have been mint-colored for weeks. And when Sydney sent me a box of clothes with this shirt in it, I was thrilled.
What about you? Has there ever been a trend that you initially wrote off, only to fall in love with later?
Also, don't forget to enter my today! It ends tonight, so the clock's a-tickin'! Winner announced tomorrow.
