To Cast Divine Arrows Into Her Soul

Nathan and I have been living in a very small space for a lot longer than we intended to for various (and largely irritating) reasons. But we make due. Honestly, I’m pretty proud of how much personality we fit into such a small space. I’m a bit of a homebody. I’d rather you come spend Friday night round at mine, eating take away, watching DVDs or listening to records than almost anything else, to be honest. And I’m very particular about the living room.

Until now, I have forbidden exercise equipment from this space. But last weekend, I admitted defeat. I have found one exercise, ever, that I don’t hate, and that’s my Tony Little Gazelle. Yes. It is. And last weekend I shuffled things around an already tight space to make room for mine in the living room. I’m not happy about the look of it. But I am past caring. I know if it’s in there I can make myself do it while catching up on Life Unexpected or the ridiculousness that is “The Secret Life of the American Teenager*. So my battle into taking better care of myself has begun. Portion control has been enacted, and the Gazelle is being used. I’m feeling good about it.



We went to two different Targets this weekend, armed with my birthday gift cards. As soon as we passed this display of tie dyed v-neck tees, I knew $10 would be going to one of those. In fact, I might go back for a back-up. I am a sucker for anything black and white and anything tie dyed, so this tee is just perfect for me. And you can’t beat $10.



I’m giving Douglas Coupland one more try. Everyone seems to just love him. I’ve tried two of his books** before and not finished either, so I am not sure WHY I am trying him again other than I got it at Half Price Books and it was cheap. I’ll let you know. It’s off to an OK start, but the Goodreads reviews indicate it might be all downhill from here.



I also picked up a plaid shirt and a great basic black skirt that is neither too long (and has to be hiked up to my boobs) or too short (and can only be worn with leggings). I was really excited by that find! And two tie dyed crew neck tees from the men’s department, which had much better color options than the ladies’.



The shopping ban is over, BTW. I cheated twice, right at the very end. Once on a pair of shoes last Friday, I saw them a week ago that day when I was spending birthday money and could not stop thinking about them. So I bought them and justified it as a birthday gift to myself. And a second time on Saturday when I was feeling sorry for myself (hey, it happens!) and bought a $5 Maybelline lipgloss at the CVS. It was worth every penny and it is the best lipgloss I have had in ages. I will probably go right back on a ban very soon, out of necessity and also just because it felt good to challenge myself. But I’m going to take a breather just for a minute. I feel pretty good about how I did.

(I've noticed a lot of comments about going out to look for things, and to help you know when you might be able to do that, I'm going to start noting recent purchases in the outfit details at the bottom. If I got something within the past couple of months, I'll note it as recent.)

*simultaneously one of the best and worst shows on TV. No one can act, not even Molly Ringwald seems to remember how, but the dramatic plots twists are delicious in their levels of ridiculousness, and we just can’t seem to stop watching.
**”Girlfriend In A Coma” and “Microserfs” I can’t even remember what I didn’t like about them.

Jacket, Bona Drag, customized by me
Tee, Target (recent)
Trousers, Wal-Mart
Socks, Payless
Shoes, Target
Necklace, self made from vintage and craft store parts
Cuff, Vintage, gift from Mikal
Bag, Nordstrom Rack
Book, The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland