Lucky Number Thirteen

I am feeling overwhelmed.


Phew, I am glad I got that off my chest. I am currently trying to create a plan for decorating my living room and kitchen and upstairs-tv-room-area. Now, most people do this as a process over time, (and I will, too, actually) but there's sort of a push to get all these rooms to be suitable spaces for entertaining before the hubby leaves for Afghanistan (in less than a week now. Yikes!), or at least to know what we need for it all before he leaves. They don't have to be perfected, just decent. So we can both feel comfortable with me having people over without having to say, "Hey, ignore that none of this furniture looks good together and that the wall color is really all wrong. Close your eyes and imagine that it's all well-decorated. No peeking - until you leave." But the thing is, I have no idea how to go about this. I want a similar color scheme throughout the house, or at least throughout these common areas, so they feel cohesive, but I have NO IDEA how to do that. And the stuff I have is giving me no clues.

Those of you who have done this, how do you choose your colors? How do you put things together? Similar design styles? Colors? I am totally at a loss. (That's a lot to ask, readers. Don't feel like you have to answer that.)

Okay, I feel ready for an outfit post now. Venting time over.

There's my outfit! Oh, you can only see the top half?

How about now? Oh, no better? Hm.

Okay, this is just plain ridiculous.

Flower: Anthropologie. Sweater: Calvin Klein. Button-up: New York & Co. Pants: Ann Taylor Loft. Shoes: Bandolino, via DSW.

(Mystery solved: the pants are brown.)

 Note: usually my post titles are song-inspired, and I like to only choose songs I know and like. While there are songs named/including "lucky number thirteen", I don't know any of them. This is just my thirteenth outfit - boring. Sorry.

You Learn

This blog and the 30x30 have taught me a few identifiable things so far -- I added that belt that one time, I belted a scarf, I found my natural waist -- but this post shows the big chance I've taken. A remix that I would never never have tried if I were not participating in all this. I'm so proud of this outfit! Not really because it's particularly attractive (though I thought it looked okay, and was definitely comfy) but because it expanded my limits, and my wardrobe. Okay, enough talking. Time for showing.

I did my hair! Be proud.

The husband didn't want this belt anymore - my new favorite!

Do you see what did? Do ya do ya do ya do ya? (Other than not-quite get that hamper out of the shot. Whoops.) I am not wearing a skirt -- it's my white dress! As a skirt! WHOA! Big deal for me. Look some more.

Jacket: Target. Scarf: $10 store in some airport. Sweater: Ann Taylor Loft. Belt: husband's. Dress: Alex Evenings (via Etsy). Boots: Ralph Lauren.

Oh, and that little headband made my day. Thanks for putting it on sale for $8 or something, Loft. Love ya.

Oh, my. So we purchased our house from a Blackhawk pilot who also was a fabulous amateur painter - he did this piece for his son's room. So, yes, we do have a massive helicopter mural on our office wall. And yes, the walls are that dark. Ridiculous.

Dress backstory: I purchased this dress on Etsy in the vintage section because the seller thought it looked 'vintage-style'. It's not vintage. So shame on her for selling it there, shame on my for enabling her, but I LOVE this dress. I bought the dress for cheap to wear as my getaway dress after my wedding, and it was really great for that! I love the fit and look, but probably wouldn't have worn it again if it weren't for this challenge. So here I am wearing it again, and trying a dress-as-skirt for the first time in my life - I'm very proud. My wardrobe has been extended! Woo hoo!

Below is evidence of my dog's favorite type of interaction: leaning. She can never stand close enough to people, so she props her feet away from us and leans. This has knocked me over before.

Lazy Day Afternoon

Not today. Or yesterday, Blazer day. But Monday, that day was a lazy day around these here parts, and I thought I'd share:

The hubby and I lay in bed until almost noon, pretending we were still sort of alseep. (We are SO good at that.) The dog even got in on it; she would get up and see if anyone else was stirring, then realize we were pretend-sleeping and nestle back down in her blankets and stuff. We totally planned to get to the gym asap, but when we realized it was snowing really hard, we called the gym and discovered . . . it was closing right then! No-gym day! Woo hoo!

Silly picture time!

When we did get up, we brushed our teeth and all, but no one put on clothing made of other-than-sweats material. Yeah, classy. Then my wonderful man made the tastiest, fluffiest waffles we've ever shared. Mmmmmm. Want to see?

Thanks, Ann Lewis and fam, for our waffle-maker! And Mom and Dad for the mixer!
Also, I (obviously) auto-focused this, and I swear it looked focused at the time. Sorry.

There they are in all their glory. That is what I'm TALKING about!

The waffles got a healthy dose of syrup, butter, and some parts got apricot preserves on them. Dee-lish! Then we headed up to the comfy couches to watch Robin Hood - the new one, with Russell Crowe. And then I worked on a puzzle. (1,000 pieces - almost finished!) Yeah, it was basically The Perfect Snow Day, a wonderful memory for all involved.

I hope you all are enjoying/have enjoyed yours!

It's Not Too Late

for love.

Or for outfit posts! Yesterday was another snow day for me and for the hubby, but one where we actually did stuff, so I didn't have time to post my blazer pics. LAME of me, I know! I really wanted to be part of the Everybody: Everywear blazer day, but I'll just have to be late to that party. Feel free to leave your tsk-tskings below, as it will help me learn my lesson. Anyway, yesterday I put on my outfit, looked in the mirror, and felt like putting a big cartoon monkey face over my face before posting any pictures of myself! As I don't have photoshop or any fancy photo-editing skills, I put on makeup, some of my 'fanciest' jewelry, and did my hair. That helped a lot.

Oh, and also, meet my favorite coat! She's a very wooly pea coat I got on a trip to Scotland. She needs some buttons sewn back on, so you may often see her worn open . . . but I love this coat. And the cool flower that stays on the lapel. You like?

Denim blazer, Ruffley shirt & Cords: Ann Taylor Loft. Jewelry: Penney's. Shoes: Chinese Laundry.

So there you have it. I wore clothes yesterday, I swear! Will you forgive me for being late pleeeeease?

Highway to the DANGER ZONE!

Oh, hello there! I'm sorry I haven't posted anything since Thursday . . . my parents came in for the weekend (okay, only for about 36 hours, but I still had to clean beforehand.) and so I haven't really had any time to update. I'll try not to let it happen again. Much. (Good bloggers give warning when they'll be unable to post. Good bloggers plan this stuff in advance. Sorry I failed to do either. Bad blogger, bad!)

My next outfit is my personal number eleven, and I was pretty excited about it! Or just about the cool setting for these pictures, not sure which, really. This is the awesome AH-64D,  aka the Apache helicopter. Sorry I'm blocking all the pictures of it. My bad.

Scarf: Someplace in England. Sweater: Gap. Jeans: Ann Taylor Loft. Silver shoes: Flexibles. (?? Cheap from some spa boutique.)

Aaaaaand now the detail shots. Look at my shiny shoes!

You're right, the last one didn't even contain an article of clothing. You're right, you're right; I know you're right. (It's the rocket pod, though. How cool does THAT sound?)

Beautiful Letdown

When I began my 30, I picked the pieces, and hung almost everything together in about eight outfits. (The ones that have already been posted.) Things that didn't get hung, (jeans, a couple plain shirts, aka leftovers) became my last outfits, and the outfit below is one that resulted. Read: there is nothing interesting about the clothes. Cop-out, I know, but I had to wear something on my day at home, and I sure as heck wasn't going to pick out new outfits for the next week.

Also, these pictures were taken after an FRG event to brief us families on what it's going to be like for the soldiers on their base over there. I think we got home around 9, and I decided to take some pictures "really quick" before bed. That always takes twice as long, unfortunately. Sorry about the quality, folks.

Detail shot.

These shoes are purple with a semi-pink stripe.

Shirt: Ann Taylor Loft

Jeans: American Eagle

Scarf: Target

Belt: Husband's (Hah! I finally got to steal something of his!)

Purple Shoes: Kiss Me via DSW

This is face was made at my husband because he kept distracting me and making me take awful pictures.  That goofball!

Okay, confession time. At this FRG event, a woman I know complimented me on my belted scarf. "I've just never seen anything like that!" She said. (My favorite kind of compliment.) And I took it. I just thanked her, told her I had been inspired by her recent use of a waist belt, (which I actually was, I just would never have gotten this brilliant idea simply from her outfit) and acted like I made up the very idea of a belted scarf myself. Sorry, fashion blog community, I know I got the idea from many of you. I'm sorry I didn't admit it.

Also, I see (especially with the pictures) how way-too-long this scarf is for this technique. Ideally I think it should have come down to around my hips. Not near-knees! Goofy. Anyway, you live (and photograph and post and blog) and you learn. I'm pretty proud of the tied belt, though. I felt almost like a nerd or an orchid.

If you would like to leave any disparaging comments about how I tried to fix a lame outfit with a scarf, belt and colored shoes, or how dark the pictures are, or just your general what-have-you, feel free.

(Except that messy nightstand.That's the husband's, not mine.)

Recipe for Making Love

Or rather, for making me love my clothes more. Here are the pieces I'm working with, and then the next outfit I have to show.

Shirts: Stripes: H&M, red w/bow: Loft, white: Loft, blue turtle: NY&Co, black: Loft, green button-up: Ralph Lauren kids, white ruffley: Loft, blue/white button-up: NY&Co, white button-up: Loft

Sweaters: Camel: NY&Co, crocheted: Calvin Klein, navy cable: Loft, black ruffley: NY&Co, Brown cable: Gap

Skirts/Dresses: Khaki: Loft, black: Loft (scuba), ivory dress: Alex Evenings, purple dress: Loft, purple sweater (I forgot it before): Loft

Jackets: Hunter green: H&M, denim blazer: Loft, tan/gold swing coat: Target

Pants: Cords: Loft, brown: Loft, grey: Loft, trouser jeans: Loft, khakis: AE, skinnies: Old Navy, jeans: AE   (I also picked a pair of dark blue chinos. You can imagine them. It wasn't worth retaking the picture.)

So. Especially as I look at everyone else's picks for this, it's almost embarrassing to put mine online. I mean, I allowed myself 30 clothing picks and didn't include shoes to make it easier, but now that I'm partway through this and looking at these choices, I could easily cut pieces out. Plain white and black shirts? Gone. Both pair of jeans? Peace out. Plain white button-up? Sayonara!  

And I notice almost immediately that if you compare my stacks to most others', you see A LOT less pattern. I mean, I literally have four patterned pieces. What the heck? My biggest fashion challenge for the last 6 years or so has been toning down an all-pattern wardrobe! Crazy. Well, I guess it's on to new challenges, then. I am learning from even this, realizing that I could do this challenge with fewer pants, fewer shirts, fewer pieces overall, and some really bold and interesting pieces, for heaven's sake!

Anyway, here is my ninth outfit since I started the challenge, even though it's the first since the challenge officially began. The day we went to take these pictures, it had snowed. Like, snowed for real. It was so beautiful! We turned in to a nice little housing development (Plantation Estates . . . only in the South.) that happened to have this pretty little stream running through. I kid you not, we came in on Rhett Butler Street and turned into Scarlett O'Hara Court. Ridiculous!

Note the scarf adding necessary interest. The socks are not intended to be so attention-grabbing, that just sort of happened. (They were warm.)

Turtleneck & Belt: New York & Company

Scarf: H&M

Pants: Ann Taylor Loft 

A couple of things you may not have known: the dog spent this photo shoot dashing as deep as she could into that forest-y area, then bounding back at full speed. She is visible in one of these pictures, extra points if you find her. Also, I did in fact fall down immediately following that first picture. We have a nice sequence of pictures as I go down and my husband watches and continues documenting. Okay, I have to admit, it's pretty funny to see.

: P