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

Call Me What You Will, But Call Me Again

On this day I was running late, feeling rushed and frumpy and scatterbrained. I could not get it together. And then Nathan asked me to wear this blazer, which belongs to him. So I quickly changed tees to go with it, and had to go with the outfit because at that point I was late late late. And I didn’t feel good. In fact I didn’t love this look all day. But seeing it in pictures changed my mind.



Nathan was 100% right. That blazer looks great. I stand corrected.
And those are jeans I am not really comfortable in right now, but even they look pretty good.



Maybe it was just my mood. Or maybe I lacked perspective, but it’s finding out stuff like this that makes photographing daily outfits worth it. That plus you have all these pictures to access when you lack inspiration and you can look back and see “Oh yeah! That outfit! That was smashing” and re-wear it.



I sure hope he lets me borrow that blazer again! The arms were a bit tight at the top, because it’s a little boys blazer, but the discomfort was minimal compared with the look. And now that I know it looks so nice, I will be able to ignore the minor inconvenience caused by the sleeves, because it will be overshadowed by the convenience of feeling Fabulous.



Boys blazer, borrowed from Nathan
Tee, Black Angels show
Denim Leggings, ANA at JCPenny
Boots, Blowfish via Zappos
Bag, thrifted by Nathan
Earrings, self made

I Will Be Here, Just Sunny Days

This dress is super comfortable, generous in length and well made. The fabric is really nice, and the sizing was true to what the site said it would be.



My only complaint is that it would be better suited to a smaller chest*, but then, if I’m being honest, I probably should have sussed that out myself. I tried it on out of the package sans sports bra and well, it was a bit much. Even fashion tape was not going to be enough to keep everything well contained. I think it looks really nice with the sports bra AND jacket though, and my office is so cold there was never a chance I was going to need to remove the jacket anyway!

I took a pic for you of the dress sans jacket, so you can get a feel for the construction, because honestly, I think this would be really nice on you A and B cup girls. It’s well lined up top, with soft cups for modesty.



If I want to wear it sans jacket though I will have to come up with a better solution than that sports bra, because it’s creating weird lumps and bumps for me right at the empire waist seam of the dress. Not pretty. If I had one of those tank/bra combos that would work really well, but that’s another thing I tend to have trouble with in a bigger cup size. They tend to be made for C cups and below.

*I am a 34 D. I think this dress would be great on a B cup or smaller.

Bwhahahahahaah! Edited to add a delightful and true quote from Emily Kennedy "The 34D is the unicorn of bras. Hidden deep in the forests and commonly obscured by 36Ds and 34Cs."
So. True.

Jacket, Target
Dress, courtesy of Maurices
Sports bra, Target
Shoes, Report via Zappos
Necklace, Haute Hardware at Etsy
Bag, Vintage Coach
Bullet earring, Prairie Oats at Etsy
Leaf earring, handmade by Lara

And We Listened To It Twice, Cause The DJ Was Alseep

I wore this blouse like 4 posts ago or something, but I don’t even care. I wasn’t even going to take pictures today, but then I thought, “Oh why not just be honest?”



And anyway, we don’t even have to talk about it. We can talk about other things. Like how a while back, Kelly reviewed an eyeliner called “Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner” and I thought to myself “Ok, self, we are going to try that.” And I did. And it WORKED. Which is remarkable. Because I have never had any luck with eyeliner. It ends up in my crease and about halfway down my greasy little face by 10 AM. But this stuff really works. I have nicely smudged pretty black eyeliner straight through when I wash my face. And to be honest, the next day. Because I don’t bother to use remover. I find the leftover bit means I have to smudge less. So take my word for it, if Kelly says it works, it WORKS.



Or else we can talk about how these pants are about 2 inches too big in the waist and I foolishly, FOOLISHLY went without a belt all day. I tugged my pants up all day long like a high school girl tugging her strapless dress at a dance. It was not awesome. But my eyeliner was!



OR we can talk about how REALLY, I should have washed my hair today, but instead I just dry shampooed it and then relied on my Spin Pins. Those things came in handy during the trips to Houston and Arkansas. I mean, I am not going to be bothered to try and straighten my hair in that kind of humidity. OK, maybe I did try once, but I learned quick.



Or we can talk about that vintage Coach there. My mom originally Ebay-ed it for herself, but then she didn’t get along with it. She has to have an organizer purse or things get ugly. Then she gave it to my sister-in-law Miranda who DID get along with it. And then it was passed down to me. I like that it reminds me of both Miranda and my mother. I like that we have all three carried it. And I like that it gets used. Because vintage things should be used until they can’t. Am I right? They should be cared for, but they should be used.

Blouse, Target
Trousers, Forever XXI
Jacket, Target (13 bucks, y’all, how many of you got one? I heard from several of you!)
Shoes, Report, via Zappos last summer
Bag, inherited from my Sister-In-Law, Miranda
Isabella Wolf Fang Necklace, Wendy Brandes

I Get All The News I Need From The Weather Report

But you know, only when I watch it. I used to just put my outfits together in the morning, but lately I’ve been putting them together at night as a sort of fun, relaxing downtime sort of thing to do before bed. Plus it lets me sleep an extra 10 to 20 minutes! Last night I ended up with a super cute combo with a sleeveless blouse, a black skirt and sandals.

It was 40 some odd degrees (F) when I woke up today. I should have checked the weather. I had to scramble for a back up.



Hey, you might notice I’m barefoot. Today is One Day Without Shoes. Please take a moment to check out the site and think for a moment about what a life without shoes might look like. Then, if you can, maybe hop on over to Tom’s and buy some shoes so someone else can have a pair too. Look, I admit, I’m not a huge fan of the original Tom’s shoes. But I LOVE the wrap boots, and plan to buy a pair someday, and they are coming out with a wedge this summer that looks to be pretty darn cute!

I’m down with the thought behind the movement, but I have a corporate job, so I am in fact, wearing shoes today.



Cute ones too. Not so much comfortable ones though!



I often wish I had bought a couple more pairs of these Wal-Mart pants when I had the chance. They are, and I know it sounds crazy, but they are the nicest made pants I have ever owned. They are well cut, well sewn and comfortable.



Oh Hi buddy!~ I love you too!



Jacket, H&M (second hand)
Blouse, Target
Pants, Wal-Mart
Shoes, rsvp via Zappos
Bag, Thrifted
Earrings, gift from Pilar
Amethyst necklace, self made

The Waitress Said, "Well No, We Only Have it Iced"

Yesterday I watched Lifetime movies and sat on the couch pretty much all day. I needed to clean the house and do my laundry but I just didn’t care. I did manage to do most of the cleaning while I was watching the Grammies, I just need to clean the floors and tackle my mountain of laundry now. Our washer and dryer is on property, but you have to go outside to get to it. For some reason those brief moments outside deter me from laundry for weeks. But I’m out of leg wear (this is my last pair of clean tights and there is not a clean leggings to be found) so tonight is the night. No more avoiding.



It is hard to pair this jacket with anything other than solid black, but I am going to keep trying. I think it looks pretty good with this dress, since the colors are similar.



I also totally had to go back inside and add a hoodie. It warmed up today, but not that much. The warm up inside the house felt a lot more promising than the warm up outside delivered.



I didn’t take a picture of the way the shoes look from above today, but I have before, and if you recall, the lining is visible up top and bright purple, so since I was already wearing a splash of it, I went ahead and added a purple bag as well, to play on the pop in the shoes.

Jacket, Vintage
Dress, Target
Tights, Target
Shoes, Blowfish Via Zappos
Handbag, Hoakon Helga
Isabella Wolf Fang Necklace, Wendy Brandes Jewelry

Your Skin Is Black Metallic

It’s been raining since yesterday afternoon. It’s not awesome when you have to get out in it, but it sure was nice last night when I was sleeping. I love the sound of the rain when it’s time to sleep. It’s so soothing to hear from your nice warm bed.

The rain makes for bad a dark morning and a dark morning makes for difficult photos, but I think we got a couple we can work with.



I love this hoodie. I got it at the height of my Tokidoki crazy and at the time I thought it would be the thing I got the least use out of, but in the end I wear it more than I carry any of the bags. It’s warm, and a great shape and size, and for some reason, I can wear it around the house and it won’t end up covered in dog hair*.



The print on the hoodie was called “cammo” or something, and I guess it does sort of look like camouflage from far away but close up it’s all bullets and rainbows, skulls and stars with faces in the background.



I made a necklace from one of the Tokidoki zipper pulls off one of my bags, because this little fanged flower was one of my favorite characters and I thought it was a shame to waste such a cutie on a zipper pull no one looked at.



I don’t have any plans tonight at all. Last week and weekend I was really busy, and it was fun. This weekend I am hoping to mostly just relax, clean and watch TV. I know it sounds boring and lame but I’m looking forward to it. What are your big (or small) weekend plans?

*I do not wear my regular clothes in my house, ever. When I have friends over I have special house jeans I wear, but my normal nice clothes come off the second I get home. I change into pajama bottoms and a tee, tank or hoodie. I love my dog to bits, but he sheds like crazy and I prefer he not have a relationship with my clothes at all. He is a cutie though...



Jacket, Old
Hoodie, Tokidoki
Denim Leggings, ANA at JCPenny
Shoes, Blowfish via Zappos
Bag, Thrifted
Necklace, Tokidoki zipper pull

Sometimes I Wish. Sometimes I Wish I Was Like Mariella

Sorry for the silence yesterday. My team at work moved suites and as a cost saving measure, we did it ourselves, so I basically wore a grubby tee shirt, flared leg jeans and sneakers, if you can even imagine that. I normally wouldn’t leave the house like that so I for sure wasn’t going to blog about it. I felt sloppy and blah.

But today is better!



Check it out. I totally wore the same shirt in a different color pattern on Monday. We are still unpacking boxes and it was one of the only blouses in my wardrobe that wasn’t’ chiffon and was work appropriate. So I went with it.



And I’m still carrying that bag, and still doing it because my lunch, which is exactly the same lunch today as it was Tuesday, fits in it. What can I say? I’m working really hard this week and as a result I have a case of the lazy when it comes to my handbag.



I haven’t worn this Erin Fetherston jacket in a really long time and I couldn’t tell you why. Well, I could. I mean let’s face it; I have an awful lot of jackets to choose from. I have a super whole lot more jackets than any girl from Dallas, Texas really needs. Because I love jackets. And I neglect a fair bit of them because I have so many. So, I’m sorry little velvet jacket, you are an awesome jacket, and it’s not your fault that I happen to prefer anything moto inspired to blazers right now.

And I am not going to wear it buttoned pretty much at all today, but I know one of you is going to be curious about how it looks buttoned up, because that’s how you guys roll. So here you go:



I hope you have an awesome day. I’m going to go listen to the Ke$ha CD my wonderful next door neighbor made me and see what all the fuss is about.

Jacket, Erin Fetherston for Target
Blouse/Tunic, Wal-Mart
Denim Leggings, ANA
Shoes, Blowfish via Zappos
Bag, TJMaxx
Isabella Wolf Fang Necklace, Wendy Brandes Jewelry

With My Big Black Boots and an Old Suitcase

So I think the bag is darkening. I do. And it only needed 2 leather wipes last night as opposed to 6 the day before. I’m going to stop oiling the inside of the flap so I can watch my progress. But I will basically be spending the day today holding it away from my jeans. I am SUCH a goober. Last week, I noticed a dark spot across the bottom back edge of the bag and I cleaned it off for the most part, but you know what did it? THESE JEGGINGS*. I just didn’t think about it. I’m normally very smart about things like that, but I spaced. And then I did it again today. Oy.



We got to wear jeans today! Yay!~ Because we have to move a bunch of boxes out of a conference room this afternoon. Boo.



I always think “I can’t wear red lips”, but I’m wearing it today and looking at the pics I so can. It just has to be a good skin week, ha!~ I’ve got on Cover Girls Outlast Lipstain (you know I love them!) in #440 and I’ve topped it with the sheer pineapple juice gloss from Bath and Body Works (which is just gold shimmer, no color, and I love it, and I think they discontinued it.)



*They are dark wash and I’ve never washed them. I wash jeans when they can walk themselves to the washer and not before. Part of that is because I am lazy, and part of that is because it makes your clothes last longer to wash them only when they really need it. Underpants and are excluded from this theory.


Black and White Star Print Blouse, Target
Jeggings, ANA at JCPenny
American Apparel circle scarf
Bona Drag leather jacket
Blowfish shoes
Hayden-Harnett bag

I Let the Melody shine, Let it Cleanse My Mind, I Feel Free

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I had a pretty good one myself. I went to a couple of parties, got a haircut (by which I mean, had the dead ends trimmed, you know how I do) had some friends over to watch excessive amounts of Dollhouse and topped it off last night by watching Julie & Julia with my sweetheart.

The weather has been great. We’ve had the heat off, and last night we took the electric blanket off the bed for the week. We are expecting some temps in the 70s even! I jumped at the chance to wear this tunic again. It was hands down my best score at the swap, and the fact that I also grabbed this jacket, which is the perfect cut to show off the figure flattering cut of the tunic is a great bonus.



I don’t think the light let the pictures really captured this, but those are my latex leggings. I actually need to do laundry and am out of regular leggings. I briefly considered not wearing this combo, but then I thought, why not? Black leggings are black leggings, these just have a bit more pizzazz to them!



That bag is huge, and a great shape, but made from this really natural sort of leather. (Nathan said last night that it feels like skin, by which he means people skin. And as creepy as that is, it does. It is so super soft and luxurious.) But it is like a stain magnet. I have not ever carried it much, because of that. And in fact I think I go on and on about it ever time I DO carry it. Last night I treated it with leather wipes, and it took 6 wipes to get the entire bag really well oiled. 6! But I thought about it and maybe I just need to really commit to oiling it every night for a while, perhaps that way I can speed the patina process way up. Is that a crazy idea?



The necklace I am wearing is a reworking of this necklace



I got bored, as I often do, and removed all the bears from the chain, worked up a pattern with some turquoise beads and had a do over.



The other necklace was more delicate, and maybe more wearable even, but this one feels more fun, and more substantial, and I like substantial.

Jacket, swap
Tunic, Zara via swap
Tank, Target
Leggings, Target
Boots, Steve Madden via Zappos
Necklace, self made
Bag, Hayden-Harnett

Just a Second, It’s My Favorite Song They’re Gonna Play

I have two outfits for you today. Yesterday the camera died, and as a result we ended up with all of two pictures, one of which was not horrible, but certainly not good. The light was terrible. But I really liked the outfit so I saved the one terrible shot to post with another outfit.



I won’t terrorize you with a larger size, but I did love the look. I am so in love with that denim jacket. As I’ve mentioned before I have always liked the idea of denim jackets but never really found one that worked for my style. This one is perfect. I just wish it came in black denim as well.

Jacket, Forever XXI
Dress, leggings, boots, and gloves, Target
Necklace, Wendy Brandes Jewelry
Earrings, Silver Jewelry Club
Bag, Gucci
Ear muffs, stolen from husband

And today. I’m happier with my pictures today but not overly happy. We are still learning the right lighting and such for the new camera. But I’m less impressed with today’s ensemble. It seems a bit…tame.



I woke up this morning not feeling well and am running slow and feeling icky, so the fact that I got dressed at all is impressive I guess. And I'm comfortable, plus, that is ONE jacket, ladies and gents. One. I am chilly but I refused to wear a second.



Linda asked what the story was with this bag. And I’m sorry to say there isn’t really one to tell. It was a gift for my fifth anniversary (back in the salad days when everyone had a job and plenty of money all the time), so it’s about 6 and a half years old. When I pulled it out last week I thought “Oh, I forgot I had this bag” and then took it into the bedroom where Nathan said “Oh, I had forgotten about that bag”. So that tells you how often I carry it. I carried it non stop when I got it, for a good couple years. It’s a great bag, I just have a lot of bags. Not as many as some, but probably more than a girl needs, and YET, I am 99% sure that when people start asking what I want for my birthday, I’m going to point out a handbag I want.


Jacket, Forever XXI
Blouse, Hand me down
Pants, Wal-Mart
Shoes, Blowfish via Zappos
Necklace, Wendy Brandes Jewelry
Earring, Silver Jewelry Club
Bag, Gucci

This Is the Part Where We Fall In Love

(Did you guys notice the improvement in the quality of my pictures? We started using the Rebel. Nathan said I don’t need a lens; I need to be not lazy and learn to use it. Nathan is taking the pics for now, until I have time to learn to use the remote and take them myself, and close ups are really hard to do, but the pictures are much better. Big thanks to my Brother-In-Law Bobby who gave it to us.)

My Isabella Necklace arrived. Thank you to everyone who bought something, and thank you to Alannah for the Christmas money, and thank you to The Fabulous Wendy Brandes for the amazing craftsmanship.

The experience is amazing right from the start. The box the necklace comes in is gorgeous.







(yes. My mug has a picture of a cat. In glasses. In a basket. It’s from Awesometown.)

And it’s hard to really convey how nice the piece is. The thing I am most struck by other than the amazing detailing is the weight. It is so heavy, in a good way. It’s delicious.



The details on the snout and the fur are not really something I could capture on film properly, in my opinion. They are amazing. This is such a gorgeous creature. It’s stamped on one the underside of the claw with a “925” and the inside with “Wendy Brandes”. It rolls freely on the bar in its mouth. I can’t really say enough how nice the piece is. It’s just gorgeous. If you have a chance to get something by Wendy, it is worth every penny.

Anyway. I got dressed. This is one of my favorite outfits in a while actually!



I’m actually maybe rushing to get this post done so I can get to reading that book for the rest of my lunch break.



The best part of the layering in this outfit is the little butt flap on the tunic.



I love it!~



I did a little bit of High/Low mixing with my necklaces today. The Buddha disc* is a charm Nathan found on the ground outside on the patio at Club Dada. It was free and appears to have been walked on or maybe even driven over. But he picked it up and dusted it off and gave it to me and I put it on a chain. And then of course the Isabella Wolf Fang is by Wendy.

*ETA Suz says it's called a "dharma wheel", thanks, Suz!

Jacket, Alexander McQueen for Target
Hoodie, Old Navy
Tunic, Silence and Noise at Urban Outfitters
Denim Leggings, Target
Ankle boots, Blowfish via Zappos
Bag, Thrifted
Book, Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
Earrings, Silver Jewelry Club (back in the day when they showed one piece at a time!)
Buddha necklace, found
Isabella Wolf Fang Necklace,The Fabulous Wendy Brandes

Have Love, Oh Baby, Will Travel

Oh. My. Gosh. So I went to Volunteer (for ART CON) training at the warehouse last night. I wanted to test run “regular” clothes. So I wore:

Tights, Leggings , Jeans, Wool hiking socks, Cotton knee socks, Dr Martins , A tee, A cardigan, A hoodie, A leather biker jacket, Leather gloves, And ear muffs.

And I was still cold. I just have to believe it will be warmer the night of the event. They will close all the doors, which are all open now, and I’ve heard tale of portable heaters. I mean, I just don’t have any more serious cold weather gear than that, you know?

I am wearing my new jeans(which are actually jegggins) today. I love love love them. I have more details further down in the post but here is my outfit…



I love them SO HARD. They are perfect, just perfect.



I have a happy hour after work today and the invite said “Lowest Key Happy Hour Ever”. I am so looking forward to that, and by it’s very title, all the pressure to wear something special has been lifted, and I can just feel good going in my vintage tee and jeans. That’s always nice. I think when I was younger it was easier to know what to wear, when...but as I get older it gets harder to tell which events I should go all out for, which events I should dress up just a bit for and which ones are just casual.



And this outfit will be great for all day because it’s cozy, and has lots of layers so if I get warm, I can remove some, but if it’s cold I can wear them all. No worries. Just cozy.



So, like I said, these jeggings are perfect. They are a dark wash, with no weird fading or whatnot, just a nice, dark wash. They are long enough for me, which is sometimes a problem for me. They have back pockets. But the front pockets are fake, creating a nice smooth line. There is no zipper, which means my fly can never be undone, hahaha. They do have a button, and the waist is not elastic, but the same stretchy denim as the rest of the pant. That’s kind of a big deal to me, because my fear with my old jeggings was that I’d raise my arms and people would see the waistband, which was tacky looking elastic and also gave me a fat roll I don’t normally have. The waist is actually really nice. It’s stretchy enough to keep the pants firmly in place, but it does not pinch or give me “muffin top” AT ALL. And it is really comfortable and not constrictive at all when sitting, the way some jeans can be. I swear I have jeans I think are going to cut me in half. Here are some detail shots of the waistline for you…





See? They look just like "real" jeans. Seriously, I love them. Love love love.

Harley Tee, Vintage and Thrifted
Cardigan, Hoodie and scarf, American Apparel
Jeggings, A.N.A at JCPenny
Ankle boots, Blowfish via Zappos
Diamond necklace, gift,
Talon necklace, Talonalia
Bat skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Bird skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy