30 Day Photo Challenge

So I am a member over at Pinterest.  And it's addicting.  It has been so hot & muggy outside that I spend much of my free time chilling in the AC, prowling around on Pinterest, pinning new things to my boards.  It has given me lots & lots of exciting ideas for my new apartment.  I figure, this is likely to be my last Bachelorette Pad, so I should make it as girly & "me" as I can because if things go the way the Mister & I have planned, eventually I'll have to share in the decorating decision making department.

One of the things I've seen several times is this:

And I want to participate.  It originally comes from a blog called Oh So Lovely and there aren't any real rules, per se.  Except, you know, take a picture every day & post it.  I feel like this will encourage me to post here, even on days when I don't put together a "blog worthy" outfit and it will push me to be a bit more creative.  I feel like I've been stuck in a creativity rut for a long time, so I need to shake myself out it.  And I've found that if I commit to things publicly, I'm a LOT more likely to actually do them.  So starting August 1st, look for a new photo a day in addition to my outfit posts!

p.s. Y'all should participate too!

Put a Blazer on It!

So, I mentioned in my last post that April from So, Yeah...So was in town to pick up her friend from the airport.  Before we hit up the mall and I decided to give harem pants a go, we went to Ikea.  And April offered to take my outfit photo.  And I cannot be expected to do anything remotely normal in front of a camera, particularly when there are curious shoppers milling around behind me.  I take that back, the first pose was a relatively normal style blogger-y pose.  But the second one?  I don't even know.

I was just glad that it was finally not so damn hot that I could wear my blazer.  I knew we'd be spending the day indoors and I get cold in air conditioning.  Plus, you know, I'm addicted to blazers.  Maybe you heard about that satire show called Portlandia?  Well, they did this bit called "Put a Bird on It" which was making fun of how ubiquitous birds are getting in hipster design.  My version of that might be "Put a Blazer on It" because that's how I feel about most of my outfits.

Lastly, remember how I said I need to start being better about wearing lipstick?  Well, I have been.  But I forgot to reapply for the shot I took in the dressing room at Urban Outfitters (I tried on a pair of purple leggings, Don't Ask) and I keep looking at this picture thinking about how naked my lips look.  But you can see my pretty earrings, so it's all good!

Black Perry Ellis blazer - thrifted at Savers; White V-Neck Tee - NextLevel via Amazon.com; Pink lace skirt - Target; Blush patent wedge sandals - GUESS via DSW

Harem/Hammer Pants

So, yesterday April from So Yeah...So drove over to Minneapolis to pick up her friend at the airport.  I met up with her at the Mall of America to help her kill some time.  We walked & walked & ate crepes & walked & walked and at some point ended up at the Gap.  The Gap at the Mall of America is probably my favorite Gap ever.  I think it is where all area Gaps send their sale items to die and I feel like there is ALWAYS an additional 40-50% off sale items there.  And y'all know I love a good bargain.  One of the things we found was a whole rack of cotton jersey harem pants for $10.  And before you could say "Hammer Time" April had convinced me to try a pair on for the fun of it.


You guys, I get how comfy harem pants are.  Because once they were on, they felt like any other pair of cotton yoga pants.  But YOU GUYS, they gave me saggy diaper butt.  And saggy diaper butt is NOT something that needs to happen, not even in the privacy of my own home and especially not in public.  I've seen other style bloggers pull of harem pants in a semi-convincing way.  Or at least, convincing enough that I sort of tilted my head to the side and said, "Okay, yeah, maybe that works."  But on me?  Nope.  No way.  Not gonna happen.

I think the expression on my face in these photos really says it all.

Heat wave

Y'all, it is HOT in Minnesota.  Apparently, the combination of the temperature & the humidity these last few days is equal to the Amazon right now.  I realize that it is winter in the Southern hemisphere, but still.  Minnesota should never feel like the Amazon.  As it is, I haven't been leaving my apartment much.  I have a dinky window unit that is the Air Conditioner That Could.  It's only meant to cool a 100 sq ft area, but it's been keeping this two-bedroom apartment in the low seventies & relatively humidity free.  And for that, I am thankful.

A friend of mine DID manage to drag me out of the house the other day w/ the promise of an air-conditioned mall and the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday's.  I love me a good salad.  I snapped this photo in the H&M dressing room, and boy was the lighting in there all wonkified.  I apologize for the crappy quality of the photo.  I had to push the fill light when I was editing and that really degrades the image.  I am so serious when I say that one of the first things I'm going to do in my new apartment is to set up an outfit-photo-taking station!

I love this blouse b/c it is sheer, but the pattern is busy enough that it isn't noticeably sheer.  So I generally don't bother wearing anything under it but my bra.  It can be a little boobtastic if the front droops forward, but I just work on trying to keep the shoulder seams up on my shoulders where they belong.  As for the skirt, well, it was quite possibly the best $6 I've spent on a skirt in a while!

Sheer floral blouse - Forever 21; Blue cotton skirt - Old Navy; Blush patent wedges - GUESS via DSW


Despite the extreme heat, I am running a 5k race tonight.  I've been knocking back cold water all morning/afternoon to prepare my body for the extreme sweat.  I'm hoping for a time under half an hour.  We'll see how it goes once I'm out in the humidity!

Magpie

What can I say?  I like shiny things.  I took this photo in the bathroom of a bar and I cut off my head & my shoes, but I didn't have time to get a better shot of this outfit and I really liked it.  I love that pretty pretty jacket!  I also wore my new sexy shoes.  My toes were unhappy with the decision, but I'm working on breaking them in!

Sparkly chiffon jacket & ruffled tier skirt - The Gap; YES concert tee - eBay; Sandal heels - Franco Sarto via Macy's

The other thing is that I'd been putting off painting my nails for a while, but when I received a fantastic little Zoya nail polish in an amazing pinky-nude shade in my July Birchbox, I decided to attempt a glitter manicure.  I've been seeing them pop up over at Pinterest and most recently, Lara over at My Milk Glass Heart did one. I used the Zoya nail polish in Pandora as my base and Sally Hanson Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear nail color in Strobe Light for the glitter.  It was super, super easy.  I did the whole thing over the course of a 40 minute episode of Ghost Whisperer.  And I canNOT stop looking down at my nails.  They are so pretty & sparkly!

Shoes

Confession:  I am not very good at walking in heels.  This is one of those lady-skills that I never quite mastered as a teenager, so I always feel like I am behind the curve & am struggling to catch up.  But I LOVE heels.  I love the way they make my legs look and the way they can complete an outfit.  So I buy them, but then they languish in my closet.  I occasionally put them on and walk around the house in them, but rarely wear them out in public.  I do, however, wear heels for work.

I've been on the lookout for a new pair of work pumps.  I have two kinds of work shoes.  Concourse shoes & in-flight shoes.  If we wear the uniform skirt or dress, we are required to wear heels through the concourse.  During the service though, we're allowed to wear flats.  My old concourse shoes looked the those on the left.  A pretty basic loafer pump from Franco Sarto.  A LOT of flight attendant ladies wear these shoes.  And they are super comfortable with a nice chunky, sturdy heel.  But they're not exactly sexy.  And that was okay with my old uniform because it was hardly attractive.  But I like the faux wrap dress that is part of the new uniform line.  And I think it deserves a better shoe.  I've tried a few pairs of classic pointy-toed pumps, but my feet don't really like pointy-toes when it comes to heels.  So, I've been shopping around for a new pair of work shoes.  I'd been stalking the sale rack at my local Macy's with little luck in my size, so yesterday I took a trip out to the Macy's at the Mall of America to check THAT sale rack.  And I hit gold.  

They're Etienne Aigner in a style called Haven.  They're certainly not sexpot shoes, but they are a little sleeker than the heeled loafers.  And they have a more rounded almond toe but still have the sturdier heel.  Best part?  They were marked down to $24.50.  Sold!  Before I spotted them though, I found a pair of Franco Sarto sandal heels.  The salesgirl brought me the match and I wore them around the store for about twenty minutes.  I didn't NEED the sandals.  But they were surprisingly comfortable and really sexy and I immediately started imagining all kinds of potential outfits.  When she checked the price for me, I realized I could get BOTH pairs of shoes for less than what I was originally willing to pay for new concourse shoes.  So I bought them.

And, being the smart girl I am (please note the sarcasm) I decided I needed to wear them immediately, on my walk to Target to buy cat litter.  Good thing I was planning to take the bus home anyway, because as comfy as my sexy new shoes are, they are not meant to be worn on mile-long treks or for carrying 20lb tubs of cat litter to the checkout.  They chafed my big toes & I have some interesting blisters.  I used some of that blister rub-on stuff from Doctor Scholls, but I think it was too late.  I'm still in love with them, but they will definitely need some breaking in before I wear them to tromp all over downtown again.

Blazer - Halogen via Nordstrom Rack; Crazy cat lady blouse - H.I.P. via Nordstrom Rack; Skinny jeans - Express; Sandals - Franco Sarto via Macy's

Return of the Crazy Cat Lady Blouse

So, you may have noticed that a few months ago, I declared a shirt my "new favorite blouse EVER" and then proceeded to never wear it again.  What was up with that?  You may also remember that I slept in said awesome blouse in the flight attendant crew lounge of New York's LaGuardia Airport.  So it had that certain "been worn too long" aroma going on.  And the laundry instructions on the blouse said "Dry Clean Only" and that shit's expensive.  The blouse languished on a hanger until I finally decided to toss it in the wash & just not dry it.  And you know what?  It came out looking good as new AND it smelled much fresher!  So hooray for ignoring the laundry instructions!

One of the things I love about the Mister is that he has opinions on things I wear and he'll tell me those opinions.  He appreciates my unique sense of personal style and welcomes my input in his own closet, but he's doesn't worry that I'll get upset if he tells me he doesn't like something I'm wearing.  You might think he didn't like the cat print on this blouse, but you'd be wrong.  He didn't like the fit of the blouse.  He told me it was a wee bit big and I think he's right.  I have a hard time keeping the shoulders up.  I probably should have purchased it in a small, but this was before the Gap had me filling my closet with size 4s & 6s, so I still thought I was bigger than I am.  So I wish this blouse were a little smaller, but I still love the print so much and I love the way it drapes in the back.


 Cat print blouse - Nordstrom Rack; Pink lace skirt - Target; Black pointy-toed flats - Nine West via DSW.com


I wore this yesterday when I went to go look at studio apartments.  I think I found The One, but I have two appointments today for comparison purposes, just to make sure.  But I've totally already started decorating the new place in my head.  And one of the most important things I'm going to do is set up a place to take my outfit photos, so I can stop having to use the mirror in the dressing room at Marshall's.

But then I might not grab a pair of high-waisted bell-bottomed sailor pants as an excuse to get into said dressing room.  I tried these on as a joke and was surprised at how freakin' flattering they were.  I didn't purchase them, because they were $39, but I had to snap a pic.  I also didn't purchase that top because I thought it was $7, but it turned out to be $12 and trust me, it just wasn't worth the extra $5.