Fashion February: Shopping Outfit on Bloated Day

Although I didn't go shopping, I left the original title of this outfit the same because I find it hilarious and true. Slip-on flats for ease of trying on shoes, skinny jeans that can be left on under dresses if necessary, and a flowy top to cover any tummy bloat.

Anyway, this is the last day of Fashion February! YAY! I'll be honest, I am sick of this challenge. I am really looking forward to waking up tomorrow and just putting on absolutely anything. Not that I don't like the outfits I've designed, but I have definitely learned some things about my style over this past month.

• There are a lot of pieces in my closet that I love that I have no idea how to style. And not just crazy pieces, like my hot pink Japanese Star Wars shirt, but normal pieces like my the majority of my work blouses, my gray color block dress, and a lot of my jewelry. Because of this, I'm fasting from buying any more tops, dresses, and jewelry until I can learn to use the pieces I have in a way I'm proud of.

• I don't have as many good work outfits as I think. There were plenty of days when I picked an outfit, go to work, and suddenly realized my neckline was much lower than I thought or the hemline was much shorter than I thought. If I want to be taken seriously and not pull at my clothes all day, I need to be more aware of what I'm wearing. I already have a rule in place that I can't buy anything that isn't work appropriate, but I need to be more mindful of tights, camis, and the tightness of my outfits. 
• A side effect of the first point, but there are A LOT of my pieces that I wear in very high rotation. Like the red flats in this outfit. Or my Old Navy dark wash, straight leg jeans. Or my red purse, also shown above. I need to fill out my wardrobe with more neutral, easy to wear pieces so I don't have to wear the same ones all the time. 
• I need to be more mindful of the gaps in my closet and make an effort to target those holes.

On a more positive note, this challenge has shown me that it is possible to be stylish everyday. I can easily wake up and put an effort into what I'm wearing. But let's be real. There will always be the days where your hair is doing something stupid (or how mine is all the time now, stupid haircut) or you don't want to wear a cute dress. You just need to throw your hair, put on a pair of comfortable pants and a loose top, and call it good.

How about this: for the month of March, every Friday or Saturday, I'm going to create an outfit based on a piece or pieces that I haven't worn in a month. That's just five days, so that's not too much pressure. I'm going to call it "Closet Orphans", a term coined by Sally at Already Pretty. And it should be more fun outfits because Fridays are casual and Saturdays are just ca-ray-zay. I think I need some sort of challenge to keep me on the up-and-up.

Fashion February: French Girl Outfit

 

If I only had a beret to complete this look...and a head small enough so it doesn't look ridiculous...

Fashion February: Geometric Dress

 

A pop of hot pink from a cami under a black, white, and silver look. Love!

I Hate Haircuts

Plain and simple: I hate haircuts. It's just so hit or miss with me lately and it's driving me up a wall. Part of it is my fault, but definitely not the majority of it.

A little bit of back story. When I was 13, I got a really bad haircut. The kind of haircut you have to get up, wash, blow dry, and then curl with a curling iron every single morning just to be passable. I did that every single morning for a year until it was long enough to chop out all the horrible, horrible layering that had been done.

At that point, I found a great little salon near my parent's house and continued to go there for 8 years. At the beginning, I consistently went to this nice lady named Pam. Since she saw both me and my sister, she always remembered me. However, and apparently this is very frowned upon in hair styling circles, when I couldn't see Pam, someone else at the salon would cut my hair. By the time I was in late high school/early college, I could never get an appointment with Pam because I only had time on weekends and she didn't work weekends.

I started seeing Ron, who was very good at hair, but very bad at me. He never remembered me. I know I don't get a trim every 8 weeks like they recommend (I call BS on that one), but I'm a natural redhead, mechanical engineer, and a consistent client for 5+ years. Every single time I sat in his chair, he would ask the standard getting-to-know-you questions and every single time, by about 20 minutes in, he would say, "Oh, I remember you now."

By the time I was working on my masters, I needed a salon closer to campus. A friend recommended a great lady who I would gladly continue to go to if it wasn't 45 minutes away from work and probably at least an hour from my house.

Since then, I've tried a variety of salons and stylists and I can't seem to find a good fit. There was the lady who tried to convince me I could train my bangs (nope, can't be done), so I had this random chunk of hair misbehaving. She then lost me when she confused me with another client. I gave her a second chance, but she and another stylist both had clients named Carolyn who scheduled appointments at the same time and she chose poorly. I actually really liked the lady who I ended up with, but she went on maternity leave like three days after my haircut.

My most recent disaster happened last week. It was just supposed to be a trim, but my hair is now completely different and I'm still not sure how it happened. I'd seen this new lady once before and she seemed nice, but I learned through the course of the appointment she's a wack-a-doo and I realized it a little too late. Half of my head looks great, but the other half looks like a horrible shag from the 70's. How is that even possible? It might look nice on some of her high school clients, but this not what I wanted at all. And how does "a trim" change things this much? Ugh.

After years of fighting it, I'm going back to Pam. My sister still sees her, albeit at a different salon, and I need consistency again. Someone I can trust. I'm going to let my hair grow out for a couple of weeks and if still looks blah, emergency hair surgery.

Ok, so after all of this, I've finally figured out some rules I need to trust a stylist. And once I trust someone, I promise to be faithful, plan my appointments a long time in advance, and to get my hair trimmed consistently. I'll be better!

1. Don't use obscure language. Part of the problem with my last haircut is that she asked if I wanted some more long layers and that it would help it grow out better. Sure, sounded good to me. I don't know what planet she lives on, but these are definitely not "long" layers. They are the same length as my bangs. Not long. She should have said, "Three, four inches from the bottom" and I would have said, "I'm more comfortable with two inches. I don't want them to be too much shorter".
2. Show me what you're doing. Even if there is a miscommunication in length discussions, you should show me where it will hit BEFORE you cut anything. Again, I would have spoken up at that point. 
3. Ask how I'll wear it. Ask what my problems are with my hair. Get information before you cut anything. Yes, my hair gets static-y and if you cut out too much weight, it'll just turn into a puff ball. You should have asked instead of gawking once it started to inflate. Will I need to be able to pull back the layers when I'm working in the lab? Do you even remember what I do?
4. Remember me. Seriously, take my picture, a lock of my hair, and some notes if you have to, but just make an effort to remember who I am. I will basically ask for the same haircut over and over if you can do it right so try to remember what you did last time. And if you can't remember what you did, look at my freakin' head! It's right there!
5. Don't say things that don't make me trust you. You may think were bonding by talking about past relationships, but if you mention that you have two failed marriages and you're 26, I'm going to assume you make bad decisions and I shouldn't trust you. 

I know I'm being neurotic about this, but I'm a redhead! My hair is my identity and you don't screw with that!

Fashion February: Grey T-Shirt Casual

 

A comfortable and casual look made special with the addition of some turquoise earrings and a pretty brooch.

Fashion February: Pink Scallop Skirt - Date Night

 

 Anniversary date night. It was a nice dinner, but even though we had a reservation, they gave us the only high top table they had. It wouldn't have been bad if I was wearing jeans and flats, but having to be ladylike while balancing on a tall stool in a short skirt and platform sandals can get a little tiring. That's the beauty of a booth with a tablecloth: a little bit of privacy if I fail to be ladylike for a second.

Fashion February: Fall Date Night

I know it's not Fall anymore, but this will also do for an early Spring date night. 

Tonight we're going out for a movie to celebrate our first anniversary (it's not until Monday but who wants to celebrate on a Monday?) and I'll give you updates of our activities because it's going to be awesome! Let's just say, I'm surprising Dan tonight and taking him to one of my favorite movies and I WILL be dressing up. Not like "fancy", but like "from the movie".

Fashion February: Green Dress with Purple Accents

 

Spring is coming and this is definitely my spring outfit!

 

These shoes don't do mine justice. Mine have these awesome embroidered birds on the toes. The dress is a little short for work, but since I tend to spend Thursdays at my desk all day, didn't really create any problems.

I've spent a good amount of time now creating outfits from all the pieces that have remained in my closet these past few weeks. I'm now acutely aware of how few pieces I wear and how uninspired I wear them. For example, I've got this great gray satin blouse that I always pair with black pants, black shoes, and hair up. Snoozeville. How about some color? Some layers? A skirt perhaps?

Just because I'm an old lady now who sits on the sofa with her husband eating leftovers and shouting answers at "The Wheel" doesn't mean I have to dress like it.

Fashion February: Young Work Look

 

 

We're nearing the end of February which basically means I'm very quickly running out of outfits. Still got a couple to go, but the last couple of days might get kind of random. 

Good news: I don't plan on doing too much running in the next week so I can wear outfits with heels. Bad news: I have to cut back on the running because I pulled something in my calf which will probably make wearing heels a pain

Happy Carnival!

This time last year, well, "year" being the Catholic year because it wasn't the same calendar date, Dan and I were confused tourists in Rome on our honeymoon.

On our first day of exploring in Rome, which was a Sunday, we kept seeing confetti everywhere. It was seriously everywhere, blanketing all the streets and sidewalks.

It wasn't like we missed a parade or something because we would have noticed that, maybe. There was just confetti that seemed to have rained from the sky and now the cleaning crews were out in droves trying to sweep it up. By the way, Italian cleaning crews apparently only hire former models. The only people we saw sweeping up the confetti were some of the most gorgeous women I'd ever seen in coveralls.

We finally stumbled across the source of it.

The children of Rome were the culprit! For some reason, the children of Rome were dressed up in costume and throwing handfuls of confetti made from old newspapers. We saw a couple more instances of kids doing this, but for the most part, the rest of the day and the next were pretty uneventful, at least on the confetti front.

On our last day in Rome, Tuesday, we were going to all the last minute sites we could. We had already spent the morning hunting Renaissance sculpture and trying to get into the Borghese Gallery without a reservation (if you ever go to Rome, you need to go there, but make a reservation! We were lucky and someone cancelled theirs, but almost didn't get to see it.) After spending most of the afternoon walking around the park that housed the gallery, I realized we were very close to the Piazza del Popolo, which is totally in "Return to Me" (Oh yeah, that's right. Another Minnie Driver reference!)

And wouldn't you guess what we found?

A whole plaza filled with children in costume and oodles of confetti! I love that little kid dressed as a tiger just dumping his bag out. I swear I must have creepily watched him for 20 minutes.

Fortunately, there were signs telling us what this was all about.

CARNIVAL! Italian Mardi Gras! We were in what is probably the largest Catholic city in the world and had wandered into the epicenter. There were booths and plays and reenactors in Renaissance apparel and hoards of children throwing confetti. It was awesome. And can I just say, why don't we do this here? I understand the density of the Catholic population is much lower here than in Italy, but I don't think many people would care about the religious meaning if it meant just dressing up in costume and throwing confetti. I'd be all for that.

So once we were thoroughly tired, we mapped out the best route back to our hotel. Well, weren't we surprised that apparently our route back to our hotel was the parade route.

The tiny street we planned to walk back to our hotel was wall to wall with people. It was a little hard to maneuver, but at least we were going with the flow of traffic. We had planned to go back to the hotel, relax a bit, grab some dinner, and take the subway back to the square after dark when the real craziness started, but that was a pipe dream given how fast our energy was waning.

Today is Mardi Gras. Carnival. And while I'm glad to be having a much calmer Tuesday than that day, just thinking about it makes me want to plan our next adventure.

Where should we be confused next?

Fashion February: Bird Dress

 

My sister gave me this vintage bird dress (well, not this exact one because mine's vintage, but it's pretty close, but longer with a higher neckline) for Christmas (maybe my birthday?) a couple of years ago. It's a great dress, but I didn't wear it for the longest time because it's very boxy. There's almost no tailoring for a waist at all. Once I finally got around to investing in some brown waist belts (I don't like brown. I just don't. My only waist belt for the longest time was turquoise, which would have been a poor decision), I can finally pull this dress off. For some odd reason, maybe because I didn't wear it for so long, I always forget that it's in my closet. I guess that's the beauty of this self-imposed challenge, remembering to wear the things I don't always use.

Oh, and I wore my hair up instead of down, not becuase I was too lazy to straighten my hair this morning, just because it highlights my neck better. With such a high neckline (it's right against my Adam's apple, or whatever the hell the female equivalent is. Eve's apple?), having my hair up makes things a bit more elegant.

Fashion February: Houndstooth

I realized today that perhaps I may need to wear a cami under this shirt when I wear it to work. Caught a few too many coworkers trying not to look today. That and I just didn't feel professional today. Maybe the lightwashed jeans can't be fancied up enough. Thoughts?

Fashion February: Breakfast with Friends

 

I know I'm a bit slow, but here's what I wore this weekend.

On Saturday, I caught up with some friends over breakfast. I like to use this outfit for hanging out after work, but I'm running fairly low on casual outfits in this challenge so it would have to work.

Sunday was the first day I cheated. Yes, I cheated on the challenge. I won't call it a failure. I just REALLLLLLLY wanted to wear my new T-shirt. want to know why?

BAM! It's awesome! So I created an outfit around it (skinny jeans, glitter flats, blow out, hoop earrings, faux leather jacket, and cat eye liner), so it's not really cheating.

Fashion February: Top Shop Turquoise Dress

 

 

Friday! I managed to wear a dress AND heels today! I'm going shopping after work (nothing much, just Target and Pier One), but I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be a good start to the weekend.

Fan of Friday: Week of 2/17/2012

Floor naps.

I have no idea who this kid is.

Floor naps are the best. I'm really hoping I get to take a floor nap at some point this weekend.

Dan tends to take floor naps at my parents' house. For some odd reason, though, he can only sleep on the floor with his hands under his hip bones while lying on his stomach. It's the weirdest looking thing. It always looks like he was trying to violate himself in my parents' living room and just exhausted himself.

I took a floor nap under my desk once when I was a graduate student. I knew no one else had office hours at that time, so I locked the door, turned off the light, and curled up on the carpet under my desk for about an hour. That was a good nap.

It makes me wish I could somehow get away with having a nap under my desk at my current job. I'd need an office and to be George Costanza to get away with that one.

My sister is known for the amount of naps she takes. Sometimes, it's two or three a day. And it's not like she doesn't get sleep at night. She just really likes her naps. You can always tell when she hasn't had a nap yet that day, like a little kid. Sometimes she takes naps in her car in her parking garage between classes. Maybe that's something I could pull off. A nice car nap on my lunch break. Going to have to give that one some thought. Although security would probably wake me up to see if I was alive. She's said that's happened to her before.

Anyway, naps are great. Can you tell I'm a wee bit tired?

Fashion February: Peacock with Belted Sweater

 

Just finished an hour-long run. Tired. Shower. Bed. This is what I wore. That is all.

Fashion February: Traveling Outfit

 

Even though I didn't go anywhere yesterday (yes, I'm a day late, so sue me), I wore what I call my travel outfit. It's just comfy and I wanted a comfy day.

Accidental Gift Wrap Genius

I had a moment of genius last night. Maybe other people have been doing it for years and never told me, but I'm claiming it as my own idea!

In a last minute Valentine's Day panic, I was trying to quickly wrap up the presents I'd gotten him. I found a gift bag (aka Lazy person's wrapping paper) and was hunting for some tissue paper. As a side note, we keep all the holiday-ish stuff together so the gift wrap stuff is right next to all of the Christmas decorations. So, I'm digging around in this small closet when inspiration hit.

Instead of tissue paper, I filled the bag with a long strand of tinsel garland!

It looked amazing! And it covered the presents just as well as tissue paper.

Dan had purchased a ton of it after Christmas when it was like $1 a strand in a bunch of different colors. I filled the bag up with a rainbow strand and it looked like something Martha Stewart would do: beautiful and over the top. And, if you get it on sale after the holiday, it's probably a cheaper option than tissue paper.

Has anyone else tried this before? Am I just being amused by shining objects again or is this a great idea?!?

February Fashion: Professional Outfit

 

I'm glad I saved this outfit for a cold day. IT SNOWED TODAY! It snowed in Tucson, Arizona (at least according to my coworkers, my husband, and the news. I did not see it.)

Do you know the last day it snowed in Tucson? February 27th, 2011. You know how I know this? It was my wedding day. My outdoor wedding day. That made things interesting and panicky. My sister is kind of blue in most of the pictures...

Fashion February: Striped Dress

Dress because I shaved my legs yesterday? Check.

Heels because I'm not running tonight? Check.

Coat because it'll actually feel like winter the next couple of days? Check. (This is what I get for bragging about the nice weather this past weekend.)

The Walking Dead: My Love/Hate Relationship

As I mention here a lot, I'm kind of a TV junkie. I love a good TV show that I can really dig my teeth into. So, a couple of years back when I heard they were developing "The Walking Dead" into a TV show, I was really excited. I loved World War Z and the issues it covers that you wouldn't normally think about in a 2 hour zombie move. A zombie TV show could really develop how the apocalypse came to be, the panic, the crime, the migrations, how relationships change, all the good stuff.

And just normal children scare me

Once the casting list was revealed (the cue card guy from "Love Actually"!) and some early images of the zombies (Holy crap! That's what a zombie would really look like, right?), I was so excited. When it finally debuted, I was riveted for the whole 2 hours.

Probably something important I should mention now. Somewhere in the last five to seven years, I became very squeamish. I don't know what caused it (I kind of think it might have been the year when "Kill Bill" and "Sin City" were both released), but I can't tolerate a lot of on screen violence. I'm the wimp who looks through my fingers to see if it's over. The husband is great because he usually blocks my eyes until it's over.

Anyway, while the premiere was great, it was definitely not for the squeamish. Combine some of the uber-violent scenes with the realism of the zombies and it apparently shook my subconscious pretty hard. I've never had worse nightmares than I did that night. I don't care how much you tell yourself zombies aren't real, once they are in your head in the middle of the night in your little bed in your little apartment all by yourself, they aren't coming out. I think part of it is that there is no way I would survive the zombie apocalypse. I'd be screwed. Odds are a zombie wouldn't get me, but something else would while I'm fleeing from them. Either way, totally screwed.

This would be me. But much less put together. And I don't cook much now, I sure as hell ain't cooking as a zombie.

The problem arose because I still loved the show and so did my whole family now. They were incredibly sweet about it, though. Every Sunday night was family night, but they would record "The Walking Dead" and watch it later in the week without me. And I still did like the show, I just couldn't watch it. So, I read recaps of it every week to keep up with the story and watched clips every once in a while.

After a season and a half of avoiding it, my sister finally talked me into trying again last night.

Good episode.

Worse nightmares.

Ugh!

I will give it one more shot. I'm really hoping at this point that my subconscious will finally adjust, but it's not looking good.

Why can't my brain have a problem with "Two and a Half Men" reruns? I'd gladly give those up!

Fashion February: Casual Vest

Fashion February: Leopard Dress

 

Since it was another gorgeous day, subtract out the sweater.

I love this dress. It's really hard to find something leopard print and classy. I had been hunting for a while to no avail, but when I was in London, trolling Top Shop for souvenirs (I love souvenirs that I can wear because I'll get so much more enjoyment from a dress that reminds me of London than a tiny Big Ben) and I came across this dress. It's a little too tight for work, but with the sweater, almost appropriate for anything else. Add in the blue glass necklace I got when presenting at my first conference at University of Michigan and you've got an outfit of souvenirs.

Fashion February: Vest Awesomeness

One of the seams in my gray slacks still hasn't been fixed, so sub in some black ones and you've got what I wore today. 

Some day soon, when it's not so ridiculously awesome outside (high of 74 today! be jealous!) and when I'm not at the beginning of the final novel in a trilogy/series, I'll actually write something again. But don't count on it being tomorrow as it's supposed to be a GORGEOUS weekend!

Fashion February: Grandma Appropriate

 

Soooo, I lied. But tomorrow! Tomorrow I will really try to have some sort of exciting (ok, it doesn't have to be exciting) adventure to write about.

But until then, here's one of my favorite outfits that I wore today!

Fashion February: Turquoise Work Outfit

 

Another looooong day at work so not a lot of detail. Once things calm down, I'll hopefully find time to write about something. Anything at this point, right?

Fashion February: 70's Office

 

Loooooooooong day at work so short post. 

I wore heels. I win.

Fashion February: "Sweater Set"

 

This is a great work outfit. Comfortable and casual, yet refined and respectable. It's great for the days when you really don't know what's in store for you. I like to wear my hair pulled back with it because it can feel very girly and down hair makes it just a little too casual and feminine.

Also, I keep picking the outfits with flats. Give me a week or two and all that will be left are outfits with heels and I am going to be miserable. Goal: to wear heels tomorrow. Since I have no run scheduled, it may be doable (wearing heels when you plan on running later is a horrible situation).

Fashion February: Weekend - Very Casual

 

A day of hunting at an antique fair, groceries at Target, and the Superbowl. After the way I ate today, a good, long run will be in order tomorrow.

February Fashion: Weekend Errands

Thrift store hunting this afternoon. Hopefully I'll find something cheap and cool and easy to paint.

Fashion February: Casual Friday Outfit

 

 

I didn't even realize that I had called this outfit my 'Casual Friday" outfit until I posted it from polyvore. But that's exactly why I chose it: it has comfortable shoes and a ponytail to tame my crazy hair that I was too lazy to blow dry last night. Oh, and I couldn't find my colorless rhinestone studs so I subbed in my green ones but it still works.

Now as long as I don't tangle this ridiculously long necklace in one of my robots when I'm fixing it, I'll call it a good choice.

Fan of Friday: Week of 2/3/2012

In this, the first week of my year of awesome, I found this blog: Young House Love. I think I may have finally found the home improvement blog I've been looking for!

It's run by this couple, Sherry and John, who live in Virginia with their toddler daughter and chihuahua. Since I found it, I've been reading it non-stop. I'm not kidding, I swear I've been reading it for days. DAYS! Which I can do because they've been blogging like twice a day for four years so there are thousands of posts and ideas to be inspired by.

Ok, here's why I like it:

1. They are real people. They live in their home and have lives. They understand that most times breakables down low and decorative candles on the stairs is a bad idea. They show the beautiful pictures of their projects, but they also show the parts of their house that are a disaster. They show you when the spackle falls off the ceiling onto their face and show you the new wall color once they've realized that the color they previously painted just wasn't right. They aren't afraid to make mistakes and own up to them, which is like 65% of how I decorate anyway.
2. They work on a budget. Online sales, Craigslist, Target, and thrift stores seem to be their bread and butter. It's amazing the talent they have to transform things. Just because something is cheap and imperfect doesn't mean you can't make it cheap and almost exactly what you need.
3. They admit that they screw things up and that some tutorials just don't work. If you're on Pinterest, I'm sure you've seen those pins claiming to be able to cleanly break a bottle using yarn and fire? Well, they tried it and utterly failed. It's just as helpful to know what doesn't work as what does work.
4. They show progress in real time. They recently posted about tiling their backsplash and it took them days. And I liked it that way. These things take time when you do them yourself, especially in the naps of their daughter. It's nice to see how long these things actually take, to see where they stop for the day, and to see the amount of detail they document.
5. They have a million ideas. I know I already mentioned this, but they have been posting forever, so if you're interested to try something, odds are, they have and can tell what to do and what not to do.  They're also in their second house, so between the two houses, they have probably tried what you want to try.
6. They do realistic projects. I know this is probably a combination of #1 and #2, but they focus on projects that almost anyone could do with a little bit of guidance and a little bit of money. That's what I need! Not some interior
7. They live in a real house in a real city. I get so tired of these crazy people doing crazy things to their lofts in New York City. It's refreshing to see something so normal and familiar develop. 

So if you're planning on spending your weekend working on your home, like me, I highly suggest taking a look at it. And hopefully, I'll post some pictures of what we've been working on soon!

Fashion February: Striped Bow Shirt

 

I know. There are two pairs of shoes: flats and heels. The point was to wear the flats when walking, like from my car to my desk, then change into the heels. Well, just ignore the heels and you've got my outfit today, it's good enough. I like this outfit because you don't really need jewelry since the accents are on the shirt and the shoes. Also, almost any hair style will work.

Simple and classic, what every wardrobe needs.

Fashion February: Earth Tones