Whoops

Oh dear.  I certainly didn't mean for my last post's title to be a harbinger of a lack of posting.  But it would seem that 12 days have come and gone since I last posted.  I'll go ahead & blame 5 of those days on a 5-day trip that had short-ish layovers.  Long enough to get two workouts in, but not long enough to also drink coffee leisurely enough to do a Drinking Coffee in Hotel Rooms post.  The rest of the days though, I'll take full responsibility for my laziness.

Speaking of working out, I heard an interesting statistic the other day that the third week in January is typically when people stop adhering to their New Year's Resolutions.  Working out wasn't technically one of my resolutions, but it was secretly something I needed to get back into.  After I injured myself during my half-marathon, I basically stopped exercising while I was recuperating.  That was totally a good thing, but the totally NOT a good thing was that I didn't modify ANY of my eating during that time.  And you know, when you are running 20-ish miles a week, you can kind of eat whatever you want.  But when you are running 0-ish miles a week?  Hahaha, not so much.  But!  I am getting that back under control.  So far this year, I've managed to work out 3 times a week every week!  Go me!  I even bought a pretty new work-out top on sale at Old Navy to keep me motivated!

I've also been reading up a STORM.  I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy in, like, four days.  That's not entirely true.  There was a good four or five days between the second & third books because I didn't want the story to end!  So I read a few awful Janet Evanovich romance books as a sort of palate cleanser.  I love checking out library books on my Nook!

As for keeping up with people...I still suck.  My mom called me today and I realized I couldn't actually remember the last time she & I chatted, but it was definitely before my 5-day trip.  Whoops.  So yeah.  That one still needs some work.

Onto today's outfit!  You know, there are times in a person's life where she has no clue she even wants a pair of snakeskin-print pants until a pair are presented to her for $9.  And at those times, she will think she needs two pairs.  Luckily for me, my common sense prevailed and I only bought ONE pair of snakeskin-print pants for $9.  They're the same type of legging jeans as my blue pants and we ALL know how much I love my blue pants.  I've worn them twice and so far, I feel really good about my purchase!

Purple v-neck sweater & snakeskin-print legging jeans - Gap; Brown MIA boots - 6pm.com

Radio Silence

Hello there!  Happy New Year!  I apologize for going all quiet after my New Year's Eve post, but I headed out to the Mister's place and, well, a few things.  For one, I packed in a hurry and just threw a bunch of random stuff in my suitcase.  For another thing, I don't have my tripod with me and finding a level surface to set the camera on while ALSO having good lighting was difficult.  And why didn't I just have the Mister take the photo, like so many other lovely style bloggers?  Because I forgot.

I have two outfits for you, but really, it may as well be the same outfit.  Let's call this an exercise in remixing, which is a nice way to say, I'm wearing two of the same pieces in both outfits.  You are probably all so sick of seeing that purple tweedy jacket, but it is seriously my favorite thing in my closet right now.  I just feel like it goes with everything and it adds a little bit of polish to boot.  I'm also in love with the blue legging jeans.  They are comfortable.  Like seriously comfortable.  I guess I probably wouldn't wear them EVERY day if they weren't.  

Also, as a side note, that is not a stain on the front of my YES shirt.  It's more of a hole & a run.  The fabric of this shirt has become stupid thin to the point of see-through.  But I love this shirt.  And I don't have $129 to replace it.

Purple tweedy jacket & blue legging jeans - Gap; YES concert tee - eBay; Brown MIA boots - 6pm.com

So, I may have worn these leggings 3 out of the 5 days I've been here, but I DID wash them.  That's the beauty of the Mister's apartment.  He has his own washer & dryer.  And a dishwasher.  And a KITCHENAID MIXER.  Are you wondering why I haven't married him already & moved in?  I'll tell you.  Because he hasn't asked me yet.  

Black v-neck sweater - Gap; Black pointy-toed flats - Nine West

I apologize for the Snark Face on that photo.  I resorted to the old Fitting Room Mirror trick for this image and Forever 21 always has the worst dressing rooms and the mall here does not have a Gap.  Can you believe that?  What self-respecting mall doesn't have a Gap?  But we do what we must in these trying times.

Happy New Year!

There are a few things I really like about New Year's.  One thing is buying a new day planner, because I LOVE buying papergoods.  And with not being in school anymore, I don't have nearly the same opportunities.  So I get really excited about finding a new dayplanner.  I also like that it is the automatic Reset button on anything going on in your life.  If things aren't going the way you want them to, you get to say, "Hey, it's January 1st!  Time to try something new & different!"

Yesterday I talked about my 2011 resolutions, so now I want to talk a little about what I want for 2012!  The first resolution I came up with started out really vainly.  I am the WORST about getting regular haircuts.  I'm not even joking.  It's been almost a year since my last haircut (remember when I got the straight-across bangs?  Yeah.) and my hair is getting crazy long.  The first thing I want to do in January is get a haircut to take care of all my busted-up ends and to get an actual style going on.  And then I want to get regular trims.  I can afford the $15 every other month to go up to the Aveda Institute and have the students give me a scalp massage and a trim.  And because I felt bad about making such a vain resolution, here's the cool thing I'm doing.  For the next year, I'm going to let my hair grow as long as it will with regular trims and then next December, I will cut off one foot (at least) and donate it to Locks of Love!  I'm super excited about this!  A chance to do something good AND a reason to take better care of my hair!

Another resolution I am making is to better stay in touch with people.  In addition to being the WORST about haircuts, I am terrible at keeping up with people.  I rely on Facebook waaaay too much to know what is going on with my pals.  I haven't quite figured out the specifics of this resolution, but it is going to be something I work toward, culminating with actually sending holiday cards next December.

And finally, I'm going to keep track of every book I read.  Even the really trashy ones.  Because I'm a nerd and I'm curious how many books I read in an average year.

And onto my New Year's Eve outfit!  I have no plans!  This is sort of a lie.  I went to Barnes & Noble to read an hour's worth of "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" by Mindy Kaling (which is fantastic by the way...read it!) and then I went to Target to get supplies to make this for dinner.  So after I upload this, I'm going to start on that and besides hanging out with my cat, that's the extent of my New Year's plans.  But that doesn't mean I can't look fabulous!

One of my best friends is from Brazil and it came up one year about how she thinks it is so weird how many people wear black on New Year's Eve in America because in Brazil, everyone wears white to bring good luck & peace in the new year.  And another friend and I sort of latched onto the idea of wearing a specific color to bring a specific thing into the new year.  I'm cheating this year by wearing ALL the colors because I'm hoping 2012 is going to be my best year yet.  I'm in love with a fantastic man, I'm finally making decent money at work, I have a great apartment, I have amazing friends and family.  There is no reason for 2012 NOT to be amazing!

Sparkle Boob Sweater - Kenar via Marshalls; Maroon tank top - Mossimo via Target; Blue legging jeans - Gap; Brown MIA boots - 6pm.com


All my accessories (except for the heart-shaped sunnies) were gifts from people I love!  My necklace was from the Mister, the earrings were from my Momma, one of my bracelets is from my bestie V and the charm bracelet is from my sister!  My headband is this crazy thing my mom gave me for Christmas this year.  It is essentially a crystal disco ball on an articulated chain thing that you can bend into any shape you want.  If I were actually going out tonight, I would SO figure out some way to get it to stay on my head and rock the hell out of it!  As it was, I took it off after the photos.  But it's still awesome.

Happy New Year, y'all!

Drinking Coffee in MY Room

I'm on call over New Year's Eve, but the way it's looking, I may not be flying.  If I end up at home, that'll be okay.  I rang in the new year last year at home.  Someday I will have really fun holidays again, but for now, I'll hang out with my baby cat.

I intend to ring in the New Year with a clean apartment, so I have no intention of getting dressed today.  I clean better in my PJs anyway.  I'm currently procrastinating on this cleaning, so I'm drinking coffee and snuggling with Stella.

During my morning Internetting, I stumbled up on the following link:  10 To-Do's Before Your Start That New Year's Resolution and I intend to knock a couple of those things off the list.

My basic resolution for 2011 was To Get My Shit Together.  That mostly referred to my finances because I am not always so good with money.  I'm still not so great with money, but I've made a lot of good strides this year.  I am down to 2 credit cards that I try very hard not to use (damn you Christmas!) and I have plans to pay off at least half of one of them in February.  February is my Rich Month because I do my taxes as soon as I get my W-2, so I usually get my tax return plus my holiday pay from work and this year I can look forward to a profit-sharing check from work as well.  So I hold off on any major purchase or financial plans until February, when I feel rich.  So yes.

In addition to getting my money right, I've been working on taking better care of myself.  I've maintained my weight and I've actually dipped lower than my original goal.  I wash my face every night and every morning.  I try to drink enough water.  I try to feed my body good things (I've not been doing so great on that one lately, hello Cinnamon Toast Waffles).

And lastly, I've been really good about keeping my apartment relatively tidy.  It's sort of a disaster right now, but I still clean the kitchen every night and sweep the rest of the place regularly.  Out of all my resolution-related accomplishments in 2011, I think Becoming A Clean Person has been the one I am most proud of because, let's face it, I'm lazy.  And Being A Clean Person is hard for us lazy folk.  But I'm overcoming my laziness!

Did any of you make resolutions this year?  How'd you do?  Do you have any resolutions for next year?  I'll be back tomorrow to talk about my 2012 Resolutions!

Owl Always Love Owls

Please excuse the horrible pun in the title, but it was only appropriate.  I know that owls are trendy.  They were trendy a few years ago, then they disappeared and were replaced by, like, deer or some other kind of forest animal.  And then they were back!  And they were everywhere!  Put a bird on it?  No way, man, put an OWL on it!  Friends and family have realized that I like owls and so I get a lot of really cool, unique owl-themed gifts.

Today, I took a walk to the post office to pick up a package that had had an adventure.  My mom accidentally put the wrong zip code and no one at the post office seemed to notice that, when they entered the zip code, the computer indicated the package was to go to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but the address label clearly said Minneapolis, Minnesota.  So, my package took a bit of a detour, but eventually made it to it's destination, chock full o' holiday gifties!

And at the bottom of the box, my mom had added something she found of mine from childhood.  Neither of us can give it an exact date, but we are thinking it had to be 1st or 2nd grade because my 3rd grade teacher was kind of the worst.  And it just proves that I was into owls waaaay before every one else.  I was into owls before owls were cool, y'all.  And I'll probably still be into them when they are passe again.

Black sweater - Gap; Pink lace skirt - Target; Black fleece-lined tights - Marshalls; Gray boots - MaddenGirl; Pink scarf - San Lorenzo Market in Florence

After Christmas Sales!

So, I have a bad habit of buying a lot of stuff for myself around the holidays because there are such good deals everywhere I turn.  I definitely hit up sales for Christmas gifts too (woke up hella early to get my mom a Nook on Black Friday, for no good reason as it turns out), but I'm not gonna lie.  There is a lot of new stuff in my apartment that was not gifted.

Case in point, I was wandering the SkyWay downtown the day before yesterday after spending an hour reading Bossypants on my Nook (yes, I bought one for myself too) at B&N and I wandered into the Gap.  I'm kind of like a moth to a flame with the flame being a giant "50% off Sale Items" sign.  Sales at the Gap (sidenote: are they still "The" Gap?  Or just Gap now?  Anyone?) are my fave because they will eventually offer some extra percentage off things that are already on sale and then things are ridiculously inexpensive.  I took the opportunity to fill the "pullover sweater" hole in my closet and the "colorful pants" hole.  I was pretty pleased with my purchases.

Black Perry Ellis blazer - Thrifted; YES concert tee - eBay; Blue legging jeans - Gap; Black pointy-toed flats - Nine West


Y'all, those legging jean things are super comfy.  The material is thinner than denim and pretty stretchy and I may have put them on the day I bought them and then also wore them yesterday and then also wore them again today.  I'd also like the thank Gap for thinking I am still a ridiculously tiny size.  I've been super lazy between my injury, the colder weather, and not a lot of layovers, so it's nice to see I'm at least maintaining the status quo.  Especially considering I am currently indulging in some peanut butter M&Ms that were 30% off at Target.  Yay for post-Christmas sales!

Christmas Eve Eve

So, today I am wearing leggings, a hoodie & a pair of knock-off Uggs.  High fashion right here, y'all.  But it's also laundry day and I am out of shirts.  Tomorrow I have to work a Seattle turn, taking people where they need to be for Christmas.  Still not sure where in the world I'll be on Christmas, but it's looking more & more like I'll be in my apartment with my baby cat.  And that's okay.  Some day I'll have real holidays again, but until then, I'll enjoy helping others get to their holiday plans!

That's about as Christmas-y as I was planning to get for this post.  I actually came over here to put up a couple of songs that I'm really enjoying these days!  Without further ado:

Givers - Saw Your First

Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know

Both of those songs have been getting a lot of play on my favorite station, The Current and they both make me happy!