You Know I've Never Seen Any of These People Before

I do not like exercise. I enjoy the occasional swim, and I like to go dancing. But I have never found anything specifically designed for keeping one fit that I enjoy. I can handle the Tony Little Gazelle. I don’t hate it the way I do most exercise. But I don’t enjoy it. I stopped trying to find something I will enjoy, to be honest. I don’t think it’s out there. That’s OK. I can live with it. But I am still searching for things I don’t hate.

Enter “10 Minute Solutions: Blast Off Belly Fat”



It has five workouts, all 10 minutes each, all designed to target your abs. One of them is done entirely standing up. One is Pilates. One started off with a position I literally could NOT do, so I skipped it. But I did the “Belly Fat Blaster”, which had me sweating from head to toe. Then I watched “How I Met Your Mother”, and then I did “Pilates Perfect”. Both were a great workout, both were over in 10 minutes. I love that! 10 minutes! I can handle 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. I cannot handle 30 minutes. I get SO BORED. Anyway, I’m sore in places today, which is a good sign. I loved the trainer and although I am uncoordinated enough it took me a minute to catch on to how a few of the exercises should be done, I was able to get it eventually. It was one of those workouts that made me feel immediately thinner and healthier, and that’s always a good thing.



I love that skirt. I found it at Target when spending my birthday gift cards. It is not too short and not too long. It is just right. I feel like Goldilocks. I have so much trouble finding skirts that are the right length on me.



And that’s another tie dyed tee. Last one, I promise. I just really liked them, had gift cards to spend and they were so cheap! These were $9.99.



So…I bought this necklace from the Gossip Girl online store. They sell items the actors wear on the show. This necklace was worn by Serena. It's not showing up anymore, but a $175 double strand version is! Sorry. I had been looking for something similar for a while in my price range and hadn’t had any luck. And then I found this one and I think it was all of $20 something bucks. I don’t remember, it was a long time ago. After all that time spent trying to find something similar, I couldn’t seem to style it. I’ve had it for MONTHS and worn it maybe twice. It’s strange. I do really like though!

Tee, Target men’s department, altered by me (recent)
Skirt, Target (recent)
Tights, ?
Boots, Steve Madden
Earrings, Target
Necklace, The CW Store
Cuff, Vintage, gift from Mikal

It's Not Fair, You Say, I'm Square

I sincerely wish weekends were longer. It’s not that I mind working, it’s just that I really prefer doing whatever I want. Surely you understand?

I may have quit the Coupland book. I’m not sure. It was…OK. I wasn’t really excited by it at all, I didn’t look forward to stolen moments reading a few pages. It didn’t really draw me in. I didn’t mean to stop reading it, I just got distracted by something I found much more interesting …“Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate, #1)”. The Coupland Book is still sitting on my bedside table, I just haven’t read anything from it in a couple of days. Often this ends poorly for the book in question, and I eventually just admit I have abandoned it.



There seems to be something amiss with the autofocus on our camera. This cannot be good. My brother-in-law gave us this camera (Flickr tells me it is a Canon EOS Digital Rebel, and I have no reason not to believe Flickr). I’m not a big camera person, and I don’t really know anything about it other than it takes lovely pictures, but I know enough to know I can’t afford replace this camera with a camera of the same quality. I am assuming I can take it to a camera shop and have it looked at? It normally takes such wonderful pictures, I can’t imagine going back to the old point and shoot!



I'm not going to lie. This outfit is pretty boring. The Wendy Brandes piece saves it from being totally narcoleptic though, I love that about it. I can wear almost anything, and as soon as I add that necklace I feel so much more “me”. And I do love this button up. I’m not a button up kind of girl, but I really like the color, and I wanted a bit of plaid to get in on the trend. This one has snaps instead of buttons, a generous cut that doesn’t gape at the chest and little snap tabs so you can wear the sleeves up or down. The fabric is really thin and I am wearing a tank under it for the weather now, but in the summer it will feel like wearing nothing at all.

I don’t do reviews or anything like that much, but I do have to rave a moment about Maybelline’s new SHINE sensational gloss. I just love it. I have two different tubes (they cost all of 4-5 bucks a pop), Cocoa Fever (left) and Crazy for Caramel (right).



Both have a lovely sweet sent that matches their name. The Cocoa Fever is a nude shimmer with just enough color to make me look fresh. Not too much, not too little. The Crazy for Caramel is a sheer gloss with glitter and has no color to speak of outside of the glitter, but I love it on top of a MAC Lipglass to tone down that sticky, thick feeling. They also work really well over the Cover Girl Outlast Lipstains I've raved about before.


Button Up, Target (recent)
Denim Leggings, Target
Boots, vintage
Bag, Nordstrom Rack
Earrings, Target, refashioned by me
Isabella Wolf Fang Necklace, Wendy Brandes

Been Saved Again By The Garbage Truck

I took a sick day yesterday. I haven’t been feeling super. I still feel kind of meh, but there is only one day left so I can make it!



Yes. It really is that warm. It was in the upper 40’s when we were taking pictures, but they are predicting 70’s by next week!



The Coupland read is going OK, better than before. Hillary and I talked about it a bit, and I explained the reason I am giving him a third chance is basically Chuck Klosterman. I tried Chuck Klosterman a couple times and he just got on my nerves. I really didn’t like it, but he’s pretty much the only thing Nathan reads (that and books on the history of various record labels), so I really wanted to get what all the fuss was about. And on the third try? I did. And I am going back and re-reading the books I didn’t like and loving them. Hillary said she had the same kind of thing happen before, sometimes it just takes a while for an author to click.



The tee is a recent birthday gift card purchase from the men’s department at Target. I prefer dark colors and the men’s department had more of those. A snip here and a snip there and I ended up with a tee in the colors I like in a more flattering, less boxy looking cut. Plus…



LOOK how perfect the colors are for a little pattern mixing with my new wedges! I saw these during the first round of birthday shopping and I did not get them, but I could not stop thinking about them. So they are the one thing (OK, OK, and a $5 lip gloss) I broke the ban for, and I am not sorry. When I went back a week later, they were on sale for an additional 25% off! The foot bed is padded, and they are so comfy. Plus you know I love a snakeskin shoe!



Tons of necklaces make for an automatically dressier outfit. I made the bead and key one yesterday while Nathan watched some show about hip hop feuds on Fuse . I did not understand a single word. Once in a while Nathan would explain it to me, but I swear they were speaking a foreign language.

Cardigan, Alternative,
Tee, Target, men’s department, modified by me (recent)
Denim Leggings, Target
Sandals, Me Too via Nordstrom Rack
Key and bead necklace, handmade by me
Large mixed bead necklace, vintage, gift from Mikal, remade by me
Skulls, Etsy
Earrings, made by me

You Will Believe in Love and All That Its Supposed to Be

No, it’s not really warm enough outside to be without a jacket, but I think it might be this afternoon AND it certainly is in my office.



No worries, I did have on a jacket…



So... speaking of books (by which I mean, speaking of a book, yesterday) , what do you like?

What are your favorite non-fiction and fiction books? Why?

My favorite all time non-fiction book is Geri Halliwell’s first autobiography (yes, she has two!) “If Only”.



I just really enjoyed the refreshing and honest tone, and I identified with her dreams. Plus I was and always will be a huge Spice Girl and then Geri fan*. I only know about and love Girls Aloud (who are my all time top pop group) because Geri was a judge on the talent show they won, and thus I bought their first single when it came out, because of the Geri connection. But honest, it’s a really good read if you’re into that sort of thing, and I am.

My favorite all time fiction is “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger.



It is an amazing blend of love story, thriller/suspense and sci fi. All the things I like in fiction, done all at once and done really, really well. I have lost count of how many times I have read it but I own a hard back version, a paperback version, the audio on tape and the audio on CD. The voice actors on the audio versions are ACE and I was really pleased. Henry is perfection.



Back view!~ (Sorry about the bra view, it happens!)

*I own all the Spice CDs and singles, I have a huge box in storage with Spice dolls, Spice bags, Spice buttons, a Spice DUVET COVER…I have every book they ever put out, and I also own all of Geri’s solo albums and singles as well as books by Geri, Mel B, two by Victoria and a box of magazines. It’s crazy.

Jacket, Forever XXI
Dress, Target (recent)
Tights, Old Navy
Socks, Sock Dreams
Boots, Vintage
Dharma Wheel, found
Isabella Wolf Fang Necklace, Wendy Brandes

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