You’ve Gotten Into My Bloodstream

This is another Christmas gift. I choose this one at Nordstrom Rack. There was a lot of debate and back and forth. It wasn't cheap. So I needed to make sure it would be worth the investment. I had originally tried on another one (same sweater, same size, just not THIS sweater) and something seemed oddly unflattering about it. I still really loved it. I wore it around the store for a while. Eventually I decided I did like it, but something told me I might want to try on another. So I did. And this one was much better. There was something funky about the pockets on the other one. I’m not saying this one is the most flattering thing ever, I don’t think it is really. But I love it in spite of that. I love the colors and the shape and all the little details. I love that when I lose a button I can replace it with pretty much whatever I want. And I love the remixing possibilities.



I also love that I can pair it with that lace skirt. I find the black one almost impossible NOT to wear but the green one has been harder for me to style. I don’t think it comes across in the photos, but the sweater actually has little bits of sage green running through it (and pink, and lilac , and purple, and mauve, and grey and light blue and gold and more!).



Oh! And these photos are about a week old, so I forgot you hadn’t seen them yet, but check out those Doc Martin wedges. Nathan thrifted them for about 10 bucks. He saw them and made a mental note. Then he came home and asked what size I wore in Docs. A few days later he went back and as luck would have it, these were still there. They are in like new condition and the previous owner used an additional insole, so the original insole has not even shaped to another foot, meaning I can break these in as mine all mine. I love how they have sort of a “creeper” feel to them. And they are SO COMFY. It’s almost unreasonable.

I’m having a really hard time finding photo editing software I don’t hate. I normally use Microsoft Office Picture Manager, which I love. I don’t need much. I need to crop, I need to adjust the brightness levels and contrast and really that’s about it. I don’t correct flaws or edit backgrounds. My images are pretty darn close to their raw format. And I like them that way. I tried Photoshop over the weekend (free trial version) and I hate it. I also hate GIMP. Mostly I just want Microsoft Office Picture Manager back, but I don’t have Office on my new laptop and I cannot figure out for the life of me if Picture Manager is included in the home and/or student packs. The listings talk a lot about how you can edit right in Word, but I don’t need or want to do that really. I want to edit each picture QUICKLY and move on. If you have the home or student version of Office 2010, did it come with Picture Manger? Do they just not consider it important enough to list on the package detail or is it not in there? As much as I want to go back to it, I can’t see spending upwards of 300 bucks to get the full on version of Office with tons of stuff I’ll never use. I’m also open to trying something similar if anyone has a recommendation, but nothing web-based. Our internet connection at home just doesn’t support that kind of thing when we are both online.


Sweater Coat, Free People, Christmas gift from Nathan
Layering Cardigan, American Apparel, Christmas gift from Nathan
Tank, Urban Outfitters
Skirt and tights, Target
Boots, Doc Martins, thrifted by Nathan