Rules are For Fools, And Fool's Paradise is Hard to Find

Shortly before the TxSCC, Jentine challenged herself to thrift me a sequined top. I hear she tiptoed dangerously close to the deadline, but she totally came through!



And I, of course wore it to work. With cutoffs. Because I'm classy. In fact I was working at the buy counter that day and I had a wonderful seller come in with some fun sequins and lace and even a Betsy Johnson dress (new! with tags!) and she talked about how she loved all her sequins and lace and fun things, but where could she wear them? And I just pointed at my top. "The grocery store" I said. And she laughed, but I think I may have planted a seed. Sure there are "appropriate" times and places to wear your fancy duds...but who wants to wait?



I can't wait to style it up different ways as well. Skinny jeans, a body con black skirt, who knows? Black sequins are my new neutral.



I also wore dark blue boots with it. Because they were new to me and I wanted to and rules are for fools. I have been trying on every single pair of these little fringe boots that have come in since I started working at Buffalo Exchange and these fit really well.



Nathan said he noticed them all over Austin and the thing was to wear them with cutoff shorts and super ripped up pattern tights. Have you seen this trend? Austin ladies? Was it a SXSW thing? I mean, I'll try anything once, but that sounds strange...

I wore my geode slice earrings...



And this beautiful new pyrite and sterling silver ring I got from My Own Little Universe.* I love Katie. She's so talented and she is also beautiful, and smart and really genuine. I love love love knowing a little bit about the artists I buy my jewelry from!



(I got al little carried away with the editing trying to obscure my dry winter hands! Sorry about that kids...)



I love pyrite. And I love the color contrast of the pyrite against the darkened silver. She has another similar ring in the shop right now, so if you love it, hop on over and grab one for yourself!

Blouse, gift from My Edit (blog)
Shorts, Wal-Mart
Tights, Target
Boots, Buffalo Exchange
Earrings, self made
Ring, My Own Little Universe
Watch, Swatch

* I purchased this ring on my own, it was not a gift, and I was not compensated to promote MOLU. I just like Katie's work.

Not The Last Time

I know this will come as a sort of "duh" revelation to those of you who have been living the dream for a while, but having a job I enjoy has had some unexpected health benefits. Overall, my body is less stressed. It's visible in my face and how I hold my body. Nathan has noticed. I sleep better, and spend less time worrying. And, it turns out, I've lost weight. Not a lot, but some, and because of my steady wardrobe of comfy dresses and generously fitted shorts, I didn't notice until I wanted to wear jeans. I woke up one day last week and it was finally warm enough to wear the butterfly shaped top I picked up when I went shopping with Elissa in February. I was so excited at the idea of wearing it I decided to just suck it up and pull on my ANA denim, even though I knew they was far too small now. And you know what? THEY FIT. In fact, I even have a little breathing room in them.



Now I'm not actually too fussed about the weight, but I am excited that my jeans fit!



In fact I wore them for the next 3 days solid. I had been without a good fitting pair of jeans for so long, I had forgotten how good they can feel and how great they can look.



And I just love this top. It's so flattering (and a size smaller than I normally take at Forever XXI, because that was all they had, so I'm glad it works!) and fun. And the colors are really nice on my pale skin. I'm so into any and everything lace right now, I can't get enough!



Of course this week it got chilly again and I'm back to warmer clothes, so I'm glad I got wearing of my top in last week!

Top, Forever XXI
Jeans, ANA at JCPenny
Bag, Vintage Coach via Buffalo Exchange
Shoes, Worishofer (now available at Urban Outfitters online)

Mannequin, Yeah, I Did It Again and Again

The level of ridiculous I can get away with in my everyday life has skyrocketed. Because I can wear whatever I want...I wear whatever I want. This skirt was picked up at the swap by Elissa, but she decided to pass it on to me. It is much sparkly-er in real life than it comes across online.



When she handed it to me I wasn't sure what to wear it with, but my motto is "when in doubt, wear a band tee" and that pretty much always works out for me.





My other motto is something about washing my hair almost never.



So...I dressed my first mannequins at work the other day. I choose "floral" from the options Stephanie had put together and here is what I did...



Stephanie tweaked a couple things, but overall my original concept was kept in tact. Not bad for a first try! I'm pretty proud of them!

Keep On Dancin' Till The World Ends

Just a couple days ago, Elissa talked about her feeling on the romper trend (not good) and Vanessa recently wrote about the rules of flattery and how some days, we just don't care. Today, I'm not only wearing a romper, but I suspect it's not the most flattering thing I've ever worn and I DO NOT CARE.



It's fun, and I got a lot of compliments on it! Plus it defines my waist and showcases my legs.



I felt fun and flirty and it showed. Sometimes the actual fit of a garment doesn't matter as much as how it makes you feel. For every fashion and fit rule, there is an exception. The trick is knowing when you have found one, and for me this romper is absolutely a rule breaker.



Besides being amazingly fun to wear, it holds special meaning to me. I bought it from Jessie the day we met. It's from her shop, The Spice Rack, and when I look at it, it brings back memories of meeting her and getting to know her. I love that I got a chance to support her at the pop up shop Saturday night of TxSCC, but more than that, I love that I made a new friend.



But let's be honest, I'd have bought this from anyone. Ha! My favorite thing? The shorts are long enough for me. I don't love short shorts on me unless I can wear tights with them, and that's not going to fly in the summer. But these are short enough to still be cute, but long enough I feel covered.

I'm also wearing these amazing boots from Buffalo Exchange.



I was on one of my first shadowing training sessions at the buy counter when they came in and I thought they were amazing. But they were a size 8, and I'm a size 6. The next day I decided to try them on anyway and by some strange twist of fate...they fit. I was so excited I bought them (I had a gift card from Elissa for my birthday, so technically, SHE bought them!) that night and I have worn them several times a week since then.

AND, speaking of new friends and great shops, pop over to Clyde's Rebirth and vote for your favorite blogger in her harness contest. Everyone looks amazing so it's not an easy choice!

My take?



Romper, The Spice Rack
Belt, Thrifted by Nathan
Boots, Buffalo Exchange
Bag, Vintage Coach via Buffalo Exchange
Earrings, Ebay
Bag charms, various, Kid Robot

Hello Again, Friend Of A Friend

It feels like forever since I've done a regular outfit post. I've been taking pics though, so I have a few ready to write. I keep thinking I am going to get used to the new schedule, but the new schedule changes every week. Not in a bad way, I don't dislike it, but I am having a hard time figuring out when and where to see friends. I have Fridays and Saturdays off. But which days I work open and which days I close fluctuates each week. The truth is there is so much to learn at Buffalo Exchange and even though I anticipated that, it's still draining. It's not just the hours that I'm adjusting to, it's the physical aspects (hours on my feet after hours on my bum for years and years) as well as the learning. Learning makes you tired! I had forgotten just how intense mass amounts of new information can be. I've done my register training. That was in all honesty, the scariest thing for me. And I'm doing pretty well on it. My Buy Counter training has slowed down to make room for that, but I'm not concerned. It will pick back up again. It's an ebb and flow. A give and take.



That cammo jacket was a much more versatile buy than you might think. I find myself wearing it with any and everything and I get tons of compliments on it. It's just a touch better on me than an army issued one because of the fitted waist (which is achieved by drawstrings inside, and to keep them at the same place I adjusted it once and then sewed them down so I never have to think about them again) and the light fabric. And that TIKKR watch? People ask me about it all day every day at work and I am always sure to give them the full lowdown on it. I hope they are going right home and ordering one, because it's so fun.



It's getting warmer. Which means I'm getting lazier with my hair and I'm wearing it in a topknot 8 times out of 10. I am planning on getting a haircut this weekend actually (Nathan is going to pay for me to get a REAL big girl haircut at Toni and Guy!). I'm planning on having the "U" shape put back in the back and the dead ends trimmed and...well, that's about it. I still like my hair long. I still know it would have more body and look more flattering shorter. I still don't care!



I mean look how cute! Who wouldn't want to wear a cinnamon bun made of hair on their head all day every day? And with my spin pins it's so easy!

Jacket, Old Navy
Dress, Forever XXI
Boots, Dr Scholl's via Zappos.com
Watch (and new pink band!), courtesy of TIKKR

Pictures of You (TxSCC)

Every time I try to sit down and recap the TXSCC, I get overwhelmed. I hope those of you that were not able to make it aren't totally irritated at those of us who were just yet. The sheer volume of tweets, posts and pictures of the event must give you at least an inkling of how amazing it was for us.

Since I'm having trouble finding the words, I'm going to let the pictures I have guide me. These are by no means an exhaustive set. I mean, I didn't even really remember to use my camera much until Sunday. But they will do...

Friday I was driven to Austin by the lovely Elissa (who did not drive us off an overpass to our deaths even ONCE) along with Suze. We ate cupcakes from my favorite Dallas bakery, Society Bakery in the car.


Elissa, Suze and I eating car cupcakes

Friday night was the swap hosted by The Swapaholics. I didn't get a single picture! I helped man the registration booth with Rachel. She was so calm, cool and professional I had NO IDEA she was only 15 and invited her to a bar. And she was kind enough not to laugh in my old lady face. Thank you, Rachel. A group of us went out after the swap and sang Karaoke at a nearby Chinese food place. And I sang (and rapped) in public. That? That was epic, my friends.

Saturday we grabbed a bite and went shopping with Katy, Kyla and Jessie. We took pedicabs over to Gueros. Kind of. Our driver said he would get us as far up the very steep, very long hill as he could, and he made it! But he had some assistance.




That biker in the helmet? He saw our driver giving it his best shot, grabbed the side of the basket and said "You can do this!" He then helped our driver make it the rest of the way up the hill. It was a hilarious and totally unforgettable ride. He dropped us off with only a few blocks left to walk in the sunshine and amazing temps, so it was no hardship on us!

Saturday night was the party at Bo Concept and I left my camera in the car. Maybe not the best move but I had a good time. Laurel finally decided to show up! Ha! I spent more time that I should have probably sitting around talking to just her and not networking, but I loved every minute. I bought an amazing fur collar/scarf combo from Lisa of Archives Vintage and an adorkable denim romper from Jessie's store, The Spice Rack. It was pretty amazing to not only score some really fun new things, but to support friends while doing so. I ran out of money before I got to Merl, but I plan to shop Clyde's Rebirth really soon, after talking to her about her upcoming plans for body harnesses!

Sunday I finally remembered my camera. Here is a small selection of the ones I took at brunch...


Top Row: Penny and I, Amy and I, Kyla and I, The adorable and amazing Eric and Kelsey, Reiko and I
Bottom Row: Heather and I, Elissa and I with the lovely Krista (coming soon to a blog near you!), Kelsey and I, Katy and I

After brunch we headed to the conference where amazing amazing things happened for me. More on that soon! Also, Elissa live tweeted the WHOLE thing, an amazing hidden talent I didn't know she had so please go check out her feed!


Top Row: Kendi, me and Bryan, LIFE CHANGER Betsy (more on that to come!) with me and Turi from Modcloth, The amazing Pamela and I (wearing a blouse from her shop, Market Publique I scored at the swap), my sweet girl Elissa and me, The Longevity panel with Kyla and Katy and Jennine, Jennine and I (she. was. amazing you guys. AMAZING.)

Sunday night was dinner and the Etsy party! I know there have been a lot of links so far, and I'm not saying you have to click them all, but I might be saying you SHOULD! (I've been writing for a couple hours now though, so if I already linked to a blog above, I'm going to skip it below.)



Top Row: The first picture is dinner with me, Erica, and Heather on the top row and the bottom row is Elissa, Laurel and Reiko. The second pic is Elissa, Laurel and I. MORE Elissa and I, what can I say? We love each other.
Bottom row: Jessie, Rachel, Indiana and me. Blogger topknots and geeky glasses on Jessie and me! Adam, me and Punky, Elissa, Laurel and me.

An amazing near-the-end group shot...



Indiana, Kendi, Jentine, Jessie, Rachel, Stephanie from Lulu's, and Punky
Jen, me, Emily.

And last but not least, when I was home and cleaning off my camera, I found a couple surprise shots left by Adam and Punky. THANK YOU, guys. It totally made me laugh and gave me the warm fuzzies to think of you guys taking them...



Every one, every single person I met was amazing. How often does that happen? Basically never, really. But it did last weekend, and I am forever grateful to Indiana and Grechen for organizing everything.

TXSCC

Oh, hey. Remember me? I used to blog. Thought I'd say hi...

In all seriousness, I can't believe it's been a week! I am still totally exhausted, but I have managed to make it in to work, unpack and buy groceries. Laundry on the other hand...we'll see.

So, TxSCC. I'm sure you've read tons of updates, and if you haven't please feel free to drop me a line and I'll find you a good one. I'll just say a few things.

1. I love Elissa even more. We are meant for each other.
2. I learned so, so much and if you have a blog I can't stress enough how worth it it was.
3. Style bloggers. As nice in person as they are on the screen. This was the least competitive, most amazing, friendly, supportive group of girls and guys I have ever met.
4. Style bloggers men folk? AMAZING guys. Amazing, amazing guys. Every last one of them.

I ended up with two outfit shots. One from Saturday afternoon and one from Sunday.



That pink watch is courtesy of TIKKR, one of the major sponsors of TxSCC and all around great company (by which I mean great guy, who we got to hang out with Friday night. Karaoke. Oh yeah. That happened.)



The gorgeous amazing blouse I'm wearing on Sunday was courtesy of Market Publique, who was a seed sponsor for the swap Friday night. I was lucky enough to score this amazing piece from them and I am so, so grateful. It is crazy beautiful and I love it.

I'm putting together some super cheesy poorly edited collages for you (oh I know! I make it sound so appealing!) and I'll get those up in the next couple of nights. My day off is Saturday and I plan to spend basically the whole day catching up, adding people to my blog roll and twitter and saying hi to as many of you as I can.

Until then, I leave you with this super unprofessional, super cheesy myspace style pic I asked Bryan to take Sunday night. It's poorly lit, and super silly, and one of my favorite pictures of all time.



From left to right:
Me, Bryan, Elissa, Kendi and Laurel, livin' it up, kids. Livin' it up.

You Know That I Could It To The Next Level Baby

I have a bruised heel, a blister on my pinky toe and I have 8 more hours on my feet today. Physically, this is not the easiest transition, to be honest. But I also logged a couple hours behind the Buy Counter yesterday and got to do full on role playing as part of my training so the fun of the job still makes up for the pain.



I started breaking in these new Docs yesterday. I promised myself I'd wear them half a day and I managed to wear them from 10 to 3, so I call that a success. I'm paying for it today but that's the way it goes with Docs sometimes. You have to really want it. And I do with these, because, well, LOOK at them! Gorgeous!



I brought a back up pair of flat Docs to change into and they saved the rest of my day.



This will most likely be my last post before TxSCC. I am working a mid shift tomorrow and then grabbing Suze at the airport, and we head out with Elissa for Austin first thing Friday AM. Oh. And I still need to pack.



I can't wait to meet everyone. I am SO EXCITED and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Jacket and dress, Target
Sports Bra, Forever XXI
Tights, ?
Boots, Docs
Bag, vintage Coach
Necklace, self made

Spice Up Your Life!

Are you tired of hearing about work yet? I swear I don't mean to bore you but it's so exciting to enjoy my work after all these years trapped in an office! So I've gotten a bit of training behind the buy counter and it's totally fascinating. And I'm really enjoying all the personal interaction. Our customer base is by and large really friendly and I love talking to them. My feet hurt less each day, and the time! It goes so much faster. I'm not saying I never look at the clock, I do. But I don't check it more than once an hour (until that last hour!). I'm busy, and moving and engaged in The Now.

I wore a painfully adorable outfit yesterday, but I choose dinner and drinks with Elissa and Tina over pictures last night. I'm sure you agree I made the right choice!



Today I went a little more casual but you know what was exciting? Being able to wear my Spice Girls tee shirt to work!



I love that tee shirt. That was the BEST concert. Maybe not the most outstanding musically, but as far as dreams coming true? Winner. Hands down.



I'm wearing my awesome new watch by TIKKR, a sponsor of the TxSCC who generously sent one to several of the attendees.



And these gorgeous earrings Elissa scored on sale and got for me...



I'm soooooo far behind on reading your blogs and I miss it so much. I know I'll get it figured out soon and my schedule will even out but that has honestly been the hardest part. The good news is I'll see so many of you this weekend! I CAN'T WAIT!~

Tee, Spice Girls concert
Jeans, Target
Jacket, McQueen for Target
Boots and bag, Buffalo Exchange
Watch, courtesy of TxSCC and TIKKR
Earrings, Gift from Elissa

I'm Fierce And I'm Feelin' Mighty

After Day 1 my feet were like "Eh, we don't feel so great but it's not so bad." But after Day 2 they were more "We hate you, please die". Oh my gosh. I am so glad I have today off. My co-workers promise my feet will adjust. Let's just hope they do it fast!



I had an exciting day though, with my fist training session behind the buy counter. I learned a lot. I spend most of the day right now working the floor, which means direct interaction with customers and lots of back and forth between the dressing room and racks. SO MUCH FUN. I seriously get paid to talk to people and handle clothes.







Plus I had a co-worker remark that she noticed that I was doing really well, and that my customer service skills are excellent. Feedback from managers is nice, sure, but feedback from fellow staff members is priceless. I don't mean to gush (OK, I do) but I have at least 3 moments every day where I just take a deep breath and breathe it all in. I am so happy. I don't remember the last time I was this stress-free. I'm focused when I'm there, and I don't have to struggle to pay attention, because I'm interested. It's interesting.



Jacket, Old Navy
Smiths shirt, Everything English
Shorts, Wal-Mart
Tights, ?
Boots, Docs, thrifted
Watch, Swatch
Bead bracelet, self made

The Tattoo Ink Never Runs Dry

Did you guys watch Portlandia? I didn't think the promos looked very funny to be honest but we had free IFC* long enough to catch the entire run and it was super funny. It basically makes fun of everyone I know, including myself.




Anyways! I had my first day at Buffalo Exchange yesterday and it went really well. I think the transition of going from both working in an office with a dress code and the restrictions of 30x30 to being able to literally wear anything I want at any time, is sort of overwhelming. So even though I felt like my outfit was super-crazy-I-can't-believe-I-can-wear-shorts-happy-fun-time it was still one of the most conservative outfits on the floor.



I still love it though!



I've had those shorts for a while now but never wore them. They just didn't look right with anything I tried but that's because they need to be worn with something either fitted (no thanks) or tucked in, and I never tucked anything in. Something I learned during the 30x30 is that I CAN and SHOULD tuck blouses in sometimes. I had it in my head it's unflattering on me but...

A. Who cares? and
B. It's not.



As a little "Congratulations on your new job" gift Nathan went to The Shining boutique again, and he got me a new Moon Raven Designs piece (how cool is it that they carry one of my my favorite jewelry designers?).



This piece is both a ring and a pendant and it is cast from a lizard skull and yes, it makes me cooler than everyone else as long as I am wearing it. (Just kidding. Kind of.)



I love it as a ring most but I also love that I can still wear it as a pendant, because it's more everyday versatile that way!

*Dish Network gives us a few free channels every month, I know it's meant to entice us into upgrading our package, but it doesn't. We like free stuff too much. It's more fun the way it is.

Cardigan, AA
Tank, Target
Sports Bra, Forever XXI
Shorts, Forever XXI
Tights, Target
Boots, Docs, thrifted by Nathan
Necklace/ring, Moon Raven Designs via The Shining