Graphic Print Critter

I wasn't joking when I said I was wearing a ton of stuff from the Men's department- WHY would I pass up this sweatshirt?! I'd be a crazy person if my new utilitarian-slouchy dressing didn't include a little bit of pizzaz. Can a varmint on a sweatshirt really be considered pizzaz? Whatever, I'mma roll with it. 

What a nice week it's been so far! The calm before the storm of tomorrow's Thanksgiving celebration with our buddies has been a series of puttering to the store for small forgotten food items, hunting for more forks (because nobody wants to eat turkey with chopsticks), and extra tummy time to encourage scooting. Anytime I try to put Violet's little knees tucked under her hips, she stiffens into a plank and I end up wheel-barrow lifting her legs. It cracks me up everytime! I know she'll figure out the physics in her own time, but the fun of doing my best to help her out only to have it hilariously backfire is filling my days with a lot of laughs. 

Duuude.

I've been really out of my own blogging loop for a while. I've been sort of keeping up with some reading, mostly keeping in touch through Instagram, but what I've gathered is that Capsule Wardrobes are "in" and they're filled with neutrals and stripes.

Well, I guess I've been accidentally capsule wardrobing for a really long time, then.

I'm taking the capsule-chic one step closer to lazy and have been doing two things with what I've been wearing lately. 1. Replace a lot of dead and dying clothes (China water is really mineral-y and makes clothes crunchy and gross much more quickly. Goodbye, old worn out favorites) with pieces that are a little oversized, since my intention is to be pregnant on repeat and knock out the whole "let's have lots of kids" thing bing bang boom style. And slouchy/ comfortable works in pregnancy, post-partum, and toddler chasing. 2. I'm buying the bulk of my new favorites in the men's section. Been doin' that since my belly got big, like here, here, here.

Baseball

A quick hello and welcome back to baseball... Yeah, I know the season started a few short weeks ago, but we spent some good time over the weekend streaming Tigers Baseball Radio broadcasts. Watching games on TV- yeah, it's good fun, but the radio announcers for Detroit are so animated and fun to listen to.

So, hey, baseball. Thanks for making it feel a little like summer over here!

(PS- my hat is for the Toledo Mudhens- the feeder team for Detroit and my hometown. I'll have to wait a little while to wear any of my Tigers' shirts- they're all hilariously short right now.)

Risky Business, Maitre D' Style

Despite the fact that I look like a waiter/ Tom Cruise sans shades in this, I kind of love the simplicity. I considered an enormous necklace to give it a femenine flair, but the collar is Dumbo-ear sized already. I considered a headscarf with similar tones to my pumps, but it detracted from the crispness of the upper half.

So I stuck with this tuxedo shirt, buttoned at my wrists, a spunky pair of shoes and lipstick and nails in a similar berry tone. And I think it's great for a regular workday. Not fussy, not schlubby. 

Pants: Zara...Button-down: Express, thrifted...Shoes: Nine West, via Buffalo Exchange

Black 'n Blue

Today's look is duuuuuull. And I'm over it. Between now and November 5, I will be running around like a headless chicken.

Pants: Gap...Buttondown: J Crew, thrifted...Sweater: Gap...Shoes: Naturalizer... Earrings: gift

REASON: It's Gala Season.

And Boss Lady has seized control of a lot of things and I'm doing my best to wring information out of her about what auction items she's been in communication about, what items she stranded at the other office that I need to photograph and document, what items are lurking up in her room that I need to document, photograph and take to the other office... She's been weirdly secretive about a lot of things and then gets angry that not more is complete and documented for the auction. Well, we don't know the items exist yet, please share whatcha know and we'll coordinate our efforts. Why isn't so-and-so's art here yet? Oh, we're getting something from them? Hooray, glad to hear it.

And on and on. My poor Guy is lonely and hungry all the time lately- I'm gone from 8:30 am - 8:00 pm more days than not. It's gettin' crazy and I kind of hate it. Mostly because Boss Lady insists I wallow in a very specific vortex of responsibility and then I have to catch up like crazy when I finally get some information about a part of a different task that is attached to a mucho time consuming project. I hate playing catch up, but when the information hasn't been given to you, you do the best you can. ReallyReallyFast. Sorry it's a bad attitude day.

I want a cheeseburger.

Menswear, Round 2

Thiiiiiiis is what I wanted to wear during Kalya's 21 Day Challenge Menswear Day. My first attempt was just post-kitty drama and I was sooo tired after being up all night at the emergency Vet, but I had good reason to try it again. Really, really good reason to try again.

Last night was my Guy's 2nd composition recital and it was completely amazing. I sent out a plea a few days ago for help with inspiration and I got some awesome advice about kicking basic black-on-black up a notch with rocking shoes. I switched it to a rocking tie and comfy wedges.

Pants: Gap...Shirt: J Crew...Vest: Trina Turk, thrifted...Tie: borrowed...Shoes: Payless, old

For fun, here's a few shots from the evening... My Guy writes a good chunk of his music with interactive electronics, meaning that some of it is prerecorded that the instrumentalists play along with, some of it is played into microphones which feeds into the computer and my Guy has pre-programmed effects that instantaneously goes back out the speakers. It's fascinating how much work and programming and precision goes into each piece.

My Guy at the helm

my Guy's Bromance is conducting, in the center.

With his quartet performers.

After the concert... he looks relieved, huh?

If you all are interested or even a little curious, the recordings should be on his website in the next few days. Click the picture below and it will go straight to the Composition page. Click around on titles to read more about each and to listen to recordings. Last night they played "Natural Selection," "Untangle my Tongue," and "The Gate."

See you all tomorrow. Hope your weekend was lovely!

Menswear and the Kitty Cat tragedy

Sorry, guys, this is a total sob story of epic proportions... Thank goodness I put out a menswear inspired outfit early last night because I'm too tired and delirious to have put on anything other than pj's this morning. Not true, I didn't even spend the time finding pj's last night, since My Guy left his t-shirt drawer open I stole one. At 2 am. Let me explain:

I was diligently working my way through the repair pile in it's entirety (I'm ready for tomorrow, too!) and left my little snippets of thread on a side table. When I got finished, I tacked the needle into spool, lumped it all in the middle of the table and watched some Hulu on my phone. Next thing I know, I see our little girl sitting on the table, which isn't unusual. I saw her mouthing something, also not unusual. And then I saw the sinister gleam of light reflecting off of the needle. In her mouth. But the time I scooped her up and tried to grab it, she was squirming and it was gone. Mother trucker, the sharp pointy needle is missing, down my 7 lb cat's throat.

I was wailing hysterically and My Guy, being the good husband he is, held her while I pried her mouth open. No luck. So we went to the ER Vet and were waiting and waiting and waiting. I got done at 2 am and the following was concluded:

1. She had an xray that confirmed she did indeed swallow the needle and it was in her stomach, not dangerous to any vital organs for the moment. 
2. She was behaving completely like herself, so we were concerned but not panicked. 
3. She is a joy eater and scarfed her dinner, so there was plenty of food padding.
4. My options were:

• Let her try to poop it out, which was know to happen. But she is very small and it could have gotten stuck partway through, resulting in 'spensive surgery.
• Send a scope down her throat and retrieve it. Also many thousands.
• Take her home and in the morning go to a regular vet that the ER doc trusted implicitly and see what they say.

I went with the 3rd option.

I'm so glad I did. She was still her normal self this morning, but I spent my 3 1/2 hours of sleep waking up, tapping her head to make sure she was still alive. We left the house at 6:30 to drive way out of town to the vet who opened at 7:15. She doesn't do well in a carrier, so she's a lap kitty in the car. All is normal, we're driving through early am big city traffic and, about 3 exits away from where we get off the highway, she barfs. All over my pants. And my first thought was "Hooray! Maybe she barfed up the needle!" Not the case, but at least she was empty for a more accurate 2nd xray. We were shown right in, the ER had faxed over her records, the doc said he could do a little incision and slide the needle out surgery for a few hundred. Like, BAM, easy inexpensive fix for your disaster cat. How the H did we get so fortunate that we didn't have to make a tough call of wait it out or bite the bullet? There was middle ground and I was so grateful.

During our 3 hour ER wait.

So, moral of the story is that my cat will be fine, I got the call that she was done with the surgery at 8:40 and was doing okay and I can pick her up after 3. The funniest part of it is that now my dog and my cat will have matching foreign object removal scars on their bellies.

On to the more fun stuff of the day...
I was more pumped about wearing these shoes than anything else in today's challenge. They're secondhand Salvatore Ferragamo oxfords, they're slim on my feet and they cost me $22. Instead of $300. I win! I've been stashing these since April when I found them.

Shirt: Target...Pants: long ago Gap...Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo via Buffalo Exchange

I do know I look a little dumpy today, but at some other point I will do menswear a little more "my way" with a pencil skirt and vest, but this outfit could not have been better for my day. My pants were barfed upon and cleaned up like a champ. My shirt kept me fully covered as a squirmy cat clambored all over me. And the glasses are both laziness and a little bit of an inadvertant throwback to 50's nerd frames.

Let's hope this is the end of the madness for this week.