*slowly recovering from the shakes*

t-shirt: Old Navy
capris: Target (belt came with them)
flats/boat shoes: Famous Footwear
necklace: Express via Discount Fashion Warehouse
Guys, our house was without internet for the entire weekend! I don't know how that would really affect you, but I seriously just typed "Guys, our internet was without internet." Suffice to say I experienced some serious withdrawal. And of course, no internet means no Netflix/Hulu, and I had a whole weekend of Matt-working-so-I'm-home-alone to fill. Fortunately, the lovely Ally serendipitously came to the rescue! She recently finished watching Wonderfalls, a 2004 show that was cancelled before its time, and thought I'd enjoy it as well. So she sent me the DVD box set! It arrived late last week, just in time to entertain me through this difficult time. I blasted through all 13 episodes in three days. Thank goodness for good friends, amiright?

I also got a lot of wedding crafting done this weekend. I'm handmaking all the flowers for the ceremony reception--that's my bouquet and tossing bouquet; eight bridesmaid bouquets; nine boutineers for Matt/his groomsmen; various corsages/boutineers for parents, grandparents, readers and ushers; plus approximately 30-or-so bouquets for the centerpieces. I'm not gonna lie, the whole thing was really overwhelming and kind of had me in cold sweats at first, but I've since narrowed down the styles of flowers I'm making (some are on my Pinterest board, others I learned from my cousin, who did the same thing for her wedding next month) and the materials I'm using. I'll probably do a full tutorial on each of the bud styles I'm using and how I stemmed/arranged them once I'm done.

I've also been using the string-and-fire method (a la this) to cut the tops off of wine bottles to make vases. I've ruined several of my first attempts, but after a little trial and error I think I have the process almost down. Which means I just have to keep drinking lots and lots of wine, I guess. Tutorial to come on that one as well, though the video I linked is pretty entertaining in its own right.

Oof, I didn't mean for this whole post to go wedding-centric, but lately I can't help myself. We'll be at the 11-month mark as of Monday, which is unreal, and I'm going dress shopping this weekend, so my brain is on semi-permanent wedding mode for the time being. Sorrynotsorry. Here's a pic of me making a weird face to make it up to you.

Some random thoughts (what else is new?)

shirt: New York & Company
shrug thing, slacks: thrifted
flats: Target
necklace: Old Navy
Shoutout to Sydney and Kelly for their feedback on my weird Pinterest photo issue. It looks like making my photos bigger was the answer after all. That meant I had to change the width of my columns, though...so could you all just take a second to click over from your reader and make sure this shiz still looks good on your browser? I tested it on a 13" Macbook screen and it seemed okay, but I dunno, maybe there are some netbook users out there?

This week is what I affectionately call my "hell week" at work — I help put out this newsletter that's always more hectic than I expect it to be. This month's has gone pretty smoothly so far, thanks to an early start from the rest of the team, so I'm cautiously hopeful for a not-so-stressful week. We shall see :)

So I wasn't going to blog this outfit at all — it was just one of those throw-it-on-and-run-out-the-door days — but I got a couple compliments on it, so I shot it after work. The photos turned out a tad blurry (I'm seriously done with manual focus for selfies) but other than that, I guess this wasn't too bad of an ensemble.

Three-day weekends

I think we, as a society, should work toward a three-day weekend and a four-day work week. Somehow, two days just doesn't quite cut it all the time. Sure, I got everything done that I needed to this weekend—groceries, cleaning the whole house, some bridesmaid stuff for my friend's wedding, etc.—and I even had a little downtime to do absolutely nothing. AND Matt and I went on a Valentine's double-date with our awesome upstairs neighbors.

Okay, so I guess this weekend was plenty long enough. Hey, a girl can still dream of three-day weekends, right?






shirt and blazer: thrifted
skinnies: The Limited
boots: Target
loop necklace: New York & Company (the other was a gift from Matt)
Not entirely sure what's up with my face in that first picture. Sometimes I forget that I'm taking outfit photos for the sole purpose of showing them to other people. I should really show you guys my outtakes reel sometime, those shots are ridiculous.

Also, a confession: I'm not really a huge fan of thrifting. Sure, I'm obsessed with getting great deals. There's nothing better than walking out of a store knowing you only paid a few bucks for each item. But generally speaking, I just don't have the patience for it. So when I find a gem like this blazer, I'm disproportionately proud of it. I picked up a few other items from the thrift store this weekend, too. Can't wait to show you guys!

Fat kid dreams

Lately, I've been having these incredibly vivid dreams about food. Normally, my dreams are pretty nonsensical (earlier this month, I had a dream about a cat that had my brother's head on it). So to have relatively normal dreams about eating delicious foods (albeit in sometimes bizzarre circumstances) is kind of nice. And man, this food tastes good.

Last week, it was a decadent chocolate cake. A few nights ago, the best apple pie I've ever had in my life. Last night, an incredible root beer float. So weird. The downside? I wake up craving food that 1) has no right being eaten for breakfast and 2) is simply impossible to replicate in real life. That's how good these dreams are.

Didn't mean to get off on such a detailed tangent about food dreams. I woke up an hour ago. I'm starving.






blazer and shirt: thrifted
slacks: New York & Company
shoes: Franco Sarto via Marshall's
necklace: DIYed-ish
bracelet: Forever 21
Last night, in addition to getting groceries and doing some major work on my current freelance project, I finished Matt's Halloween costume. It looks horribly hand-made, but I figure, he's a boy dressing as a girl. How good can it really look?

For my costume, I just need to pick up some fake vomit and a nice bottle of whiskey. (Yes, the whiskey is an entirely necessary part of the costume. Hooray!) I can't wait to show you all photos! It's going to be awesome.

Take two

You ever take outfit photos and love the clothes, but hate the way the photos turn out? So you decide to re-wear that outfit again at some point, to reshoot the photos? That happened over the summer for me with this outfit. Only I never really got around to reshooting the outfit, so I had to modify it a week or two ago when the temps were in the upper 70s, not the upper 90s. But I still like the overall look and, let's face it, I'll probably rewear the original outfit come spring or summer anyway.






shirt: Old Navy
vest: New York & Company
khakis and shoes: Target
necklace: The Limited
Except, these photos didn't really turn out so well either. That fence behind me is on the south side of the yard, and while I really want to get it in some of the photos (because fences are cool), the south side of the yard always has the most sun in it...so it always winds up giving me some crazy glare. Bummer.

In other news, I have Saturday off! And nowhere to be! So I'm going to get some to-do list items checked off. Like getting my bridesmaid dress for my friend Tiffany's wedding next year (yay!!), doing some freelance work and finally getting around to that dang curtain tutorial I keep promising. Hooray for a smidgen of free time!

Weekend recap

Do you ever come away from the weekend feeling like it was longer than just two days, because you simply did so much in that short time span? That's how my weekend was. Hard to believe it's Monday!

This is the last of those yuck-o indoor shots from when it was constantly raining a week and a half ago. And though it's supposed to rain the latter half of this week as well, I've definitely got a couple nice outdoor shots from this past week and weekend, when it was in the upper 70s/lower 80s. Loving this Indian summer!




top and slacks: thrifted
shoes: Target
necklace: H&M?
bracelet: Forever 21
The shots from this outfit didn't turn out so well, to be honest, and I only found one that I really liked. Had to cut my face out of the other one because it was just plain weird and I didn't want to scare you all off. The cat probably did something goofy right as the photo was snapping. I make weird faces at her a lot.

So anyway, this weekend. I wound up getting cut from work on Friday before I could even take a table, because we were so slow. It was kind of a bummer that I didn't make any money at all, but I got to go home early and hang out with Matt, who had been gone since Tuesday on business. So it was definitely worth it!

Saturday I cleaned the whole house (!), did some work for my freelance job, then went over to have dinner with Matt's family. Four of the grandkids on his dad's side have October birthdays, including Matt's sister, so we did a kind of quadruple birthday celebrating. I love his family :)

Then we went to a friend's house for a football party (Go Bucks!). I had to leave to pick up two of my siblings from a band competition in Westerville, but I took them back to the party in time to watch our team lose miserably. It's been a rough season for us, unfortunately.

Sunday morning, at the crack of dawn, my siblings and Matt and I all headed up to my parents' house for their 25th wedding anniversary celebration and vow renewals. It was a really sweet renewal ceremony; all my siblings and I stood up at the altar with my parents. My dad got all choked up during his portion of the vows, and most of us kids were in tears. Even the 8-year-old. It was so precious. All I could think was how lucky my parents are, to have found their soulmates and spent 25 years together in a truly happy marriage, and how I could only hope to be that lucky someday too.

Then my extended family all met up for the reception. It was really great to see my cousins and grandmas too. Like Thanksgiving, only without the turkey :)

Then back to Columbus for Matt and I. We both had to do more work Sunday night, sadly. But it was such a productive and eventful weekend, I was just glad that I could fall into bed at an insanely early hour, haha!

What did you do this weekend?

This is not yesterday's outfit.

In fact, it is the first of a series of outfits that were worn/photographed before the 30x30 challenge. Time to play catch up, amiright? :)

Sadly, yesterday's outfit was not photographed at all due to unfortunate circumstances. I don't want to bore you, so long story short, my clutch system in my car is screwed up. We think it has something to do with engine temperature running slightly too high, which makes some metal part--probably a spring or a worn-down pad--expand and stick. So I'm driving through some terrible stop-and-go construction traffic, trying to get back to work after a doctor's appointment. And my clutch starts sticking. Then it stays stuck. As in, pushed all the way in, so when I hit the gas, my car goes nowhere because it thinks it's in neutra, even though it's really in gear.

So there I am. It's 95 degrees (higher if you consider the heat index) and I'm backing up traffic. Everyone's beeping, even though my hazards are on and I'm waving them to go around. Finally, some kind soul stops and helps me push my car off to a side street. I call the tow truck and wait 45 minutes in the sweltering heat. My outfit is soaked through with sweat (gross, I know, but that's why I couldn't take pictures of it). When the tow guy gets there, my clutch is perfectly fine again. UGH.

Was up all night with stress dreams about money, the work I missed yesterday, etc. Feeling like crap this morning. There's ten bucks in my wallet, I'm thinking about taking it to the thrift store for some discount retail therapy. Cause you KNOW I can't afford real shopping now that I have a car repair to deal with.

But on the bright side. I love this outfit and it makes me smile.

shirt, brooch and long shorts: New York and Company
shoes: Franco Sarto via Marshall's

I missed these shoes during my 30x30 challenge. I wore them yesterday, too, which made me look ridiculous--running around by my disabled car in a cami (had to ditch the button-up shirt, too hot), a bright red pencil skirt and these monsters. It was so hot (HOW HOT WAS IT?) it was so hot I had to actually walk up to a woman doing some yard work and beg her for a glass of water. She was the sweetest lady--she and her son brought me inside, where it was air conditioned, and gave me two full glasses of ice water, plus one for the road. They also offered me OJ and snacks. Sometimes, the kindness of people really makes a bad situation a bit better.

More wishful thinking

Alas, we're supposed to get rain for the next week and a half, with the exception of tomorrow. So here's another sunny-weather outfit from last week to kind of cheer you (and me) up!

Blazer: New York and Company via Burlington Coat Factory
Shirt: New York and Company
Lace tank: Zenana Outfitters via Marshall's
Jeans: Guess via Macy's
Shoes: Payless
Necklace: The Limited

I'm fortunate enough to work in an office with a relatively relaxed dress code. Every Friday, almost without fail, I wear jeans to work. Sometimes I wear a skirt, but even that will be less casually styled on a Friday. I suppose I could wear jeans on other days--some of my coworkers do--but I just feel weird doing that.

When I do wear jeans to work, I usually try to dress them up with a blazer or heels. Something to make me feel cute and not like I'm going to get groceries or something.

How cute is this shirt, by the way? You can't quite see, thanks to the cardi-blazer hybrid, but it's got this little twist thing going on one side...perfect location for a pin or brooch in warmer weather!

Exhausted!

Okay guys, I just want to apologize right now for (relatively) infrequent/irregular posting. My goal is to post at least twice a day, but I feel like this week is going to be a long one, based on the fact that April has been a neverending line of tasks, trips, deadlines and missed deadlines. This weekend in particular has left me feeling completely exhausted. That being said, I’m popping in quickly today for a brief post. Hopefully, the week will be calmer than I’m anticipating and I can get back on track!
Not quite sure what I was thinking when it comes to poses for this day (sometime last week). Oh, well.

Shirt: thrifted
Skirt/belt combo: Spotted Moth
Faux pearl necklace: New York and Co. or Forever 21?
Faux pearl bracelet: Unclaimed lost & found item at the bar where I used to work
Brown necklace and bracelet: Don’t remember
Earrings (both pairs): Claire's
Shoes: Payless

This was my first-ever purchase from Spotted Moth, and I love it! It’s a kind of faux-suede material that requires hand-washing, however, so I may not wear it as often as I like. I’m pretty lazy about laundry. But this skirt came with a sweet, detachable brown belt (which I’ve desperately needed) AND it has pockets. Score!

I’m not quite sure if I’ll jump on the maxi skirt/dress bandwagon because I’m really tall and ankle-length hemlines tend to make me feel matronly. But I can definitely say that I’m loving the midi-length look. My Easter dress was also a midi; I’m sure I’ll remix it sometime soon (I’m thinking with a blazer), so keep an eye out!

Apologies for the vagueness of my jewelry sources for today. I’ve come to realize that most of my jewelry is years old and I’ve forgotten where I bought it. Plus, clothes and shoes have labels that help me remember where I bought it…jewelry doesn’t.