Keep it going

t-shirt: Old Navy
button-down: New York & Company
slacks: thrifted
flats: Target
necklace: Stella & Dot giveaway win
bracelet: H&M
Let's talk about this outfit for a sec. I don't know why, but I kind of love it. It's so simple and classic, but with fun accents that keep it from being boring. I won the necklace in a giveaway hosted by Jess over at Here & Now. I never win giveaways, so it was pretty exciting! I love how she styled it with a bold shirt, but for my first time I wanted to keep it fairly simple and let the necklace speak for itself.

When I was putting this outfit together, my mind flashed to Fran's post about how to wear a button-down under another shirt without all the bunching and weirdness. At the time, my sleepy brain thought, "Nah, you're good girl. No need to take off that tee, find a cami, put it on, then put the tee back on. Let's goooo!" But looking at these photos, I'm thinking I should have done it. Note to self: Morning brain is kinda cray.

Like this morning, when I woke up and for some inexplicable reason, was overcome by energy and the intense desire to clean everything in my house. Well, I guess only the energy was inexplicable. The cleaning bug probably was because the house is a *tad* overdue. So I tidied my closet and wiped down the kitchen counters and stove instead of writing a post this morning. Cause I can write a post on my lunch break, but I sure can't clean my kitchen, amiright?

I'm just hoping I can keep that energy/desire to clean this evening. It's my off night at the gym and I don't have any immediate deadlines to work toward, so instead of vegging out on the couch for an Adventure Time marathon, I want to try to catch up on house stuff. Including a couple projects for Phase 2 of house decorating :) It might be a coffee-in-the-afternoon type of day...I also find that music is a great motivator for me. So I'm trying to think up a good "getting shiz done" playlist for this evening. Any suggestions?

An ode to coffee and bucking the trends

shirt: The Limited via Discount Fashion Warehouse
slacks: Express via DFW
shoes: Target
necklace: VeryJane
bracelet: Etsy
So I'm sure you all know the old adage about not wearing white after Labor Day. Well, I snagged these pants at the Discount Fashion Warehouse during a Labor Day shopping extravaganza with my friend, and just couldn't pack them away for a whole winter without wearing them. So I wore them the day after Labor Day. Yeah, I'm kind of a fashion badass. They're still hanging in my closet...I may decide to wear them one last time. They're lined so they're actually quite warm for summery-style clothes.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank the universe for coffee. Matt and I recently got a larger coffee maker (our last one only held four cups) and to celebrate we made more than usual. So this morning, I get two cups: One as I sit here at home typing this and one for the road. Can I get a hallelujah amen? A hell yes would suffice, too. I need it this morning. I went to my first modern dance class all summer (my favorite instructor was in Maine on a fellowship) and it — she — really kicked my ass. Pretty much literally. My thighs and back are so sore, but at least I slept like a rock...maybe even a little too hard. Hence the grogginess this a.m.

Discomboozled

blouse: secondhand
skirt/belt: JCPenney
shoes: Buckle
I read somewhere that if you wake up in the middle of a REM cycle (aka when you're dreaming), you'll automatically be tired no matter how long you slept. So when my alarm went off in the middle of a stress-dream, I was both relieved and annoyed. On one hand, the panic of trying to get back to the airport to find my lost luggage in the middle of a zombie attack while I was on a field trip with my high school marching band was over. (I know, I know...I have really weird and vividly detailed dreams.) But on the other hand, that sense of anxiety lingered, and it was compounded by a feeling of sheer exhaustion.

Even now, I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. I'm taking advantage of my office's $2 dress-down days, where you pay $2, which goes to charity, and get to wear Casual Friday clothes on a non-Friday. I'm clutching my coffee cup like it's the Holy Grail in between typing each sentence.

Can this morning get a do-over?

Eh. Here's a photo from a day when I was feeling more awake. Only four more outfits from the old house before I can start posting outfits shot at this one :)

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.

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!

OMG shoes

Yes, this post title is a reference to this video, which is so old in terms of Internet memes that it's practically ancient. But I don't care. Every time I shop for shoes, that is what I think of. Because that's normal, right?










blouse: old, don't remember
blazer, slacks: thrifted
heels: Target
earrings: H&M
necklace: Etsy
This outfit has so much going on, I almost can't even handle it. Ruffles. Mismatched blazer/slacks combo. Pretty little earrings. A necklace I've been obsessed with lately. Snake print. (I just typed "snape print" by mistake. Now THAT would be something.)

These shoes have been on my "to-buy" list for literally months. They finally went on clearance to just $15, and I couldn't pass them up. Best part? I have the exact same shoes in black already, so I already knew my size and didn't have to visit a million targets to find a pair that fits. I just ordered them, used my Target card to get free shipping, and BAM! They were at my door before I knew it. (I paid off the card as soon as the charge posted. Because I'm responsible with my credit now.)

All around? I call this outfit a definite winner. Boo-yah achieved.

The "winter wall"

sweater: The Limited
polo: Target
slacks: thrifted
shoes: Payless
hair flower: H&M
necklaces: gifted
That's the official name I'm giving this slump I'm in. I've hit the wall. Winter is the most dreary time of year in Ohio, where we can go weeks without seeing a blue sky or the sun. And the cold, snow, and general crappy weather conditions are not conducive to cute outfit styling. More often than not, I find myself dragging my butt out of bed and throwing on the warmest combination of clothing I can find...and that combination is rarely flattering, or stylish, or blog-worthy. Usually it's just slacks, flats and a sweater. Today I managed to make that combination work in a blogable way, but that's a rare occurrence. (It's not this outfit. This outfit is my typical, boring winter uniform.)

The same thing happened last winter, too. I hope you'll all bear with my lack of acceptable outfit posts between now and spring. I promise, this ol' blog will get interesting again as soon as the weather perks up.

Do all bloggers go through this? How do you handle the winter blahs? What outfit pieces help pull you out of the cold-weather rut?

Yesterday's absence is brought to you by cheese. Because that's normal.

So I was all set to write a post for yesterday evening. I edited photos, got them uploaded, and was just about to start writing, when...fondue happened. And some other things, but I'll talk more about that on Fiscal Friday this week. So anyway, blame cheese. Cheese is the reason why I didn't post yesterday.






button-down: old, don't remember
cami, necklace: Target
slacks: secondhand
flats: Payless
bracelet: H&M
So last weekend was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with my bloggy-turned-real-life friend, Kellyn of The Church Mouse, who just moved here from Texas. I showed her a little bit of the city, we got brunch, and we went thrifting. (I scored an AMAZING faux leather moto jacket. Can't wait until the temps are above freezing again to wear it!)

Speaking of warmer temps, Ohio had a nice little "heat wave" last week, with temps in the 40s, 50s and even 60s! It was glorious. I took these photos outside simply because it was warm enough to do so, but I failed to realize the post-work light would be less than ideal for photos. Womp womp.

(P.S. to all you Columbus-ites: Don't forget to enter my giveaway! It ends this week!)

Now, it's back to the dismal 20s and 30s that are more characteristic of Ohio in January. Le sigh. At least it hasn't snowed again (yet).

Potential

sweater: thrifted
short-sleeve Oxford: New York & Company
skirt: The Limited
necklace: InPink
tights, shoes: Target
Well, yet again, it's hard to believe that a new year has arrived. 2012 held so many changes for me and those close to me. New jobs, weddings, relocations, breakups, graduations...it's been such a whirlwind, no wonder I'm having a hard time believing it's already over.

And while I'm a little sad to think about some of the changes — particularly those that took my sister and new brother-in-law, and swept them away to a new home — I'm also very, very excited to see what 2013 has in store for me and my loved ones. I already know of a few who will change their marital and/or parental status this year, and there are some who I really hope find new jobs and new homes. What more will the year bring?

I'm not a fan of winter. I hate the cold and I'm terrified of (and terrible at) driving in snow/ice. But there's always something about the first week or so in January that has so much hope, so much promise, I can't help but enjoy it. Anyone else like that, or am I just a weird one? (Well, I am a weird one in many other ways...don't hold that against me.)