Roasting.

As it turns out, tights were a functional mistake. The whole "look" turned out a little better with them (two points: 1. My legs are paaaaaaaaale. 2. There is a 4" bruise on the back side of my leg. Don't know where it came from.) but holy bejeez, it's humid.

Also, my camera seemingly ignored every setting I programmed and pictures came out wildly dark, so here are my grainy digitally quick-fixed masterpieces. It's a good thing this is a daily documentation blog, not a hoop-de-do high fashion blog, huh?

Skirt: Banana Republic via Buffalo Exchange...Buttondown: Target...Cardigan: Gap...Tights: Gap...Shoes: Kenneth Cole via Piperlime

Good Mornin', Good Mooooornin'.

We've been watching a lot of Will and Grace reruns lately. And Debbie Reynolds is easily one of my favorite guest stars. And I had to tell my guy why her entrance into a scene singing "Good Morning" was funny. He's such a kill-joy musical-hating music-snob. Thank goodness most of the rest of his musical taste is agreeable.

Pants: Gap Really Skinny...Tee: GapBody...Cardigan: Gap...Scarf: Gap...Boots: Target

Tennis Golf Sunday

Oh, man. Beer Golf is silly business. You hit a tennis ball with a golf club around an open area (Rice University is our location of choice) and try to knock something within a random number of strokes while dragging a cooler of canned beer behind you. Long Drive challenges or a losing a round may incur a beer chug penalty. (And we figure we're relatively accepted around campus- a different Rice U tradition is called "Baker 13" during which shaving cream smeared nekkid goons from the Baker Dorms run around campus on the 13th of each month- we're tame in comparison)

The dog and I kept score and cheered everyone on and the rest of the group each did their fare share of knocking divots in the University's lawn and ricocheting tennis balls off trees and archways. Beautiful sailing shots that actually went somewhere rather than getting stopped by a tree limb were few and far between. It was a fun day.

My guy and I also ran around our neighborhood for a while this morning scouting locations for a new headshot for his website. So, I have a goodie for you all today: OUTDOOR PHOTOS. I'm still sooo very nervous and weird about scuttling around outside on my own to do timer shots. I'll gain confidence, maybe one day it'll become a regular thing.

Jeans: Gap Always Skinny...Buttondown: Target...Sweater: J Crew, thrifted...Blazer: Gap...Shades: stolen from My Guy...Shoes: Sperry via DSW...Bag: D&B via Buffalo Exchange

Aaaaaaaand:

Season Opener 

Long Drive Challenge

A Poopy Day

We fought earlier today. Ugh. Kinda ruined the mood of togetherness for the day.

It's over now, thank goodness.

But the weather was great, the dog needed to run so we spent the day at the dog park and I was in cheerful colors. 

Tomorrow will be better. Beer Golf. Hecks yes.

Jeans: Gap Always Skinny...Tank: J Crew Outlet...Cardigan: Target...Shoes: Sperry via DSW...Scarf: thrifted...Shades: Gap

Signature simplicity

This is another example of why you stalk you local resale stores. How cool is this jacket? A little hip, a lot lovely, and designer for under $25. Yup, I just purchased that Free People boucle jacket with little cordovan leather accents in all my favorite neutrals for $24.50. (I also tried on a Prada cropped boucle jacket, which fit beautifully, but it was $60. Nope.) Of course I gave it a test drive with a simple black on black base and added a mix of ivory and grey pearls, all my basics. Throw in a 4 day old vampy manicure and call it a winter outfit success with minimal effort.

I'll temper all this excitement with a few quick notes: I'm not a "designer slut"- if it fits and it's beautiful and within my price range, I'll appreciate the designer status as a likely indication of a more quality made item and not a status symbol. Also, I'm a cheap-skate. This is the first article of clothing I've fallen in love with and purchased since sometime in mid-November. I think I bought socks somewhere in there. But, that's the fun of shopping your closet, not the store- it gives you a chance to get reacquainted with your wardrobe as a whole, allows you to digest the notion of "your style" or "your signature look" and to move on with new purchases accordingly.

So, what's been your recent favorite find and personal style statement?

Pants: Zara...Tee: GapBody...Blazer: Free People via Buffalo Exchange...Shoes: Naturalizer...Pearls: J Crew and from Beijing

A Rude Awakening

My cat is a jerk. A need machine. A pillow-usurping nightmare. I spent last night on barely a  corner of my own pillow. Because she slept like a little princess right in the middle of it. Let's take a moment to discuss the frequency with which I steal a majority of the blankets and "snuggle up and borrow a corner" of my guy's pillow, but seriously? RIGHT in the middle? And what's worse is that I felt a little bad about disturbing her. I mean, her normal happy place overnight is on the windowsill that is behind our low headboard, shrouded by snuggle curtains. It's her own little cave, but it got cold and she needs a little warmth, I get it.

And then she got up at 4 am, stretched, stepped on my face and pranced down the length of my body and proceeded to squawk about being hungry (she only gets dinners). I quit feeling bad after that.

It got chilly again, guys. Back to tights and wool-blend sweaters. Dangit.

Dress: Marshalls...Cardigan: Banana via Buffalo Exchange...Tights: Gap...Shoes: Naturalizer...Necklace: J Crew Outlet 

Crappy light, fake peplum and Thank You's

Yuck, these morning photos are the pits. Sorry, guys.

I thought I would try out the sleek vs. cozy look, all while replicating the peplum look with a belted fluffy sweater. Thoughts? Opinions? I kinda like the pairing of a slightly tweed-y skirt with a sleek silky navy blouse and nubby cardigan and snakeskin accessories.

Skirt: Banana Republic, thrifted...Blouse: Gap, via Buffalo Exchange...Cardigan: Banana Republic...Belt: thrifted...Shoes: MaxStudio via DSW...Necklace: Target

Moday this week, I was blown away and received a blogger award from Natalie of The Closet de Natalie. Thank you, thank you, sweet thang! (And of course we'll thrift together. When will you be in town?!)

Additionally, I'm the world's biggest inadvertent jerk. I juuuuust found a comment in my Contact section showing that Rachel over at Yummy Mummy's Galore awarded me with the same thing... in November. I'm so sorry the thank you is so belated, I feel awful, but am so grateful!

The Liebster Blog award is given by bloggers to other bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Liebster in German means dearest, beloved or favorite, so it's a great way to tell other bloggers how much you admire their blogs. In order to accept the award, I need to do the following:

1. Link back to the blogger who nominated me. 
2. Copy and paste the award on my blog.
3. Award five more blogger and let them know I chose them.

My fave five, alphabetically by blog:

Salazar from 14 Shades of Grey

Amber from Easy Petite Looks

Loren from The Inclined Plane
 
Kimmie from The Kimmie Chronicles

Marion from Marionberry Style

Check these girlies out, they're all fashionable, charming, and completely sweet!

B&W Fair Isle

This funny little number was a good find at the thrift store several weeks ago. With specifically the baptism we attended for our godson during our week back to Ohio in mind, I wanted a little sweater that was cute, cozy and something that danced right on the line between casual and put-together. I won, big time. It is a cropped swing style, probably wool (but all the tags are nipped out- I'm guessing the previous owner found it too itchy) with a great small fair isle pattern. After the massive rainstorm yesterday, I figured I would wear something comfortable since the temperature dropped significantly overnight. So, here I am, in this wonderfully goofy little sweater.

Pants: Zara...Turtleneck: Gap...Sweater: thrifted...Shoes: Kenneth Cole via Piperlime... Earrings: White House Black Market

And, of course, I'm linkin' up with this month's EB:EW! Black and white are right up my alley. Well, grey is more my thing, but this is a pretty significant go-to, as well. I'm looking forward to wasting mucho time tomorrow morning looking through everyone's posts!

Tornado warnings

Wow. This day is bananas. I'm not joking. It was dreary this morning early, but the sky kept getting darker and more green-ish tinged as we were getting dressed and ready. In the car on my way to work, I marvelled at how little rain there was, how much lightning was around in all directions, and how honest-to-goodness green the sky had become. NPR went ahead and told me the obvious: Tornado warnings. Awesome, glad I'm in the middle of the freeway right now while that bolt of lightning shot down and hovered in the sky for at least 2 full seconds and a vortex may peel out of the sky and suck me away.

I will preface all of this by stating very clearly that I really love extreme weather. I think it's exciting, I like how it makes me feel so small and insignificant, yet vast and connected to nature. Tucson monsoon storms were a thrill. Even the thought of a little hurricane weather got me excited about Houston. But, the lightning and really green sky made me nervous.

Anyway, on to the lighter-hearted aspect of this post- clothing.

Pants: Gap (old)... Blouse: Banana Republic via Buffalo Exchange...Cardigan: Target (really old)...Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction via Piperlime...Necklace: Target

OPI Pepe's Purple Passion under Essie Shine of the Times

Leaving home

I didn't edit this photo. The sky was really thaaaat green when I got to work.

The perfect Lazy Saturday

I had what could easily be classified as the perfect weekend day yesterday. I'm not joking. We got up early, but were able to sleep in a little. My coffee was delicious (I'm switching over from an enormous brew pot to a tiny french press- I'm still learning.) We rode bikes to the grocery to gather supplies to have friends over in the evening. Birds chirped and critters scurried around us like I was Snow White. My favorite grocery is the tiny Motown-music-playing Fiesta, and I waltzed up and down the aisles to "Jeramiah was a Bullfrog" and equally awesome and singable numbers. We ate lunch in the courtyard of our apartment with the beagle tied to a tree and roaming where he pleased. I wasted a good chunk of the afternoon reading outside, then noodled my way back in to find my guy diligently cleaning. With windows flung wide open, I joined and vaccuumed my way around every rug, corner, and piece of furniture. I was wrong yesterday- I threw away at least two cats-worth of pet hair and dust. More stalling and reading, minor naptime with birds chirping, and finally a leisurely meal prep. I made a red curry with potatoes, bamboo, onions and red pepper. And the largest quantity of rice we've ever made. Friends returning to town from trips home came over and we stuffed ourselves silly, sampled beers, chatted, laughed, played Apples to Apples, and were generally loud and cheerful. Good day, huh?

I think the perfect weather really aided my happiness with this outfit- Let's be honest, it's kind of just jeans and a tee. But I had such a nice day, so I guess I felt somehow more attractive. I'm not sure how that makes sense. 

Two notes- the ladies at Complex Cardigans and BiblioMOMia were my subliminal gurus today- between the scarf a la Jenn (which is thrifted Liberty of London, BTW) and LIPSTICK a la BiblioMOMia, I was a little more ladylike than usual. (And a quick trip down memory lane- when I was in ballet classes, by favorite instructor was this lovely, late-20-something woman who was elegant and strong. Each time she got pregnant, she would continue teaching until her belly was enormous and would dance in Converse instead of flats. I think of her every time I wear these kicks and photographed them accordingly)

Jeans: Gap Real Straight...Sweater: J Crew, thrifted...Converse: Gap...Scaft: Liberty of London, thrifted