Wedding Dress

These pictures only increase my desire to have an outdoor wedding. We live in such a gorgeous location for it and luckily after a little conversation last weekend I discovered the Johnny is also a fan of the idea. That little bit of information will make things much easier when it comes to actually needing to plan. In the meantime I will enjoy the romantic feelings that I can't help but to feel overwhelmed with, with each of these photos.

Stress Relieving Socks

One look into my closet and it's no surprise I have had a stress filled week. In fact this closet is enough to make me never want to buy another item again. Partly because I am out of hangers but mostly because I spend every day trying to shove "just one more" hanger into the small space. My attempt for organization is relatively successful. Everything does have a particular place be it folded, in a bin or on a hanger. The bottom of my closet is full of Tupperware storage. One full of purses and bags, one full of my summer clothes, one with sheets and one with school work. I also keep all of my pajamas in a clear drawer system. In a month when I transition rooms my closet will expand greatly and will be able to take on a much more organized system. I usually can't sleep with my closet doors open, a pet peeve of mine I have always had and yesterday as I crawled into bed I realized why. My closet is just as overcrowded as my life sometimes feels. The worst part is I actually manage to wear everything in that closet. I have a strict rule for myself, if it hasn't been worn in 6 months gift it to my sisters or donate it. That is the scary truth too. There are a few items that may have only been worn once or twice in the last year, but they have all been worn and continue to be. The more I look at these pictures the more I want to convince myself to start spending more time shopping in my closet and less from online. This has just been one stressful event after the next, each becoming progressively more important. I know that this is a large reason why shopping in my closet has been eliminated as an option for the temporary. The idea of pulling everything out of my closet and meticulously putting it all right back in scares me. What a daunting task right now. It will get done before the big move, but anytime soon just seems too soon. Every corner of my room seems to be overflowing this week and that only adds to my want to not make more of a mess. Tonight will not bring any further advances in the room area either. After such a day my boyfriend has planned the perfect evening for us both. A quiet evening with some steaks, the hot tub, a movie warm pajamas and sleep. I'm even considering turning off my phone. I think I need a break from the world and tonight seems like the perfect night to recharge my batteries.

Vintage Sweaters

"Recent studies suggest that each buying decision plays out in the brain as a fight between a pleasure center seeking the bliss of acquisition and an aversion center seeking to avoid the pain of paying."

I found the above quote on a blog I was reading today. Apparently the quote was taken from a research article that was posted somewhere by someone. The author of the blog had used it to talk about that being the way she often felt about shopping and I couldn't agree more. In fact it's those feelings that have made me feel so bummed all week. It's like I'm being torn. The more frustrated I become with myself, the more I want to shop and buy, the more I beat myself up for spending money I don't have and the vicious cycle goes on. That's exactly what it is too, a cycle. The more I think about the money I don't have that still has to go to bills by the end of next month, the more stressed I become. I simply want to escape for a bit and find myself doing so buy shopping, or browsing online. That's the big problem though. I find great deals, in theory a great skill but in application, I spent a certain amount I just manage to spend it on a few different items instead of one item. I really need to start shopping from my closet. Again a vicious cycle in my life right now. With my roommate moving out, I find myself feeling more and more claustrophobic with my room. I'm trying to prepare for having a full house to roam in and to decorate. Until than though, these little things continue to pile up in my room until they can be opened and used at the end of next month. I don't want Cassie to feel rushed out and that's something I am really afraid of with her moving out and me staying behind. For that reason I find myself packing things on top of other things in my small room. My clothes included. My closet is simply too small. The one I will be moving into is 4 times as big and the more I think about how great it will be to have a small room dedicated to my fashions, the more frustrated I become with my current closet. I've got the winter slumps. I'm grouchy, I'm cold, I feel claustrophobic and all in all I just want to lay on a chair in the sun in my bathing suit with the tunes blaring through the stereo. In the mean time I'll have to live with thick sweaters, being stuck in a small space with a ton of stuff and with wanting to spend what I don't have to help escape. Winter can't go on forever, a simple fact I just need to remind myself of.

Black and White Stripes

A photo I found yesterday of my Grandmother at her school graduation. I fell in love with this photo immediately. It has become the inspiration for my apartment re-decorating. And for my outfits and for the way I carry myself. A beautiful inspiration.

Jessica Simpson Shoes

My new favorite shoes finally arrived! I am so satisfied with the fit and look of the red flats so I was anxious to get the black jessica simpson shoes in. These were the start of my new found Ebay obsession. I kept seeing such cute styles all labeled as the blonde celebrities new line, one I was certain I was going to hate, and I just couldn't help but to wonder what else she had out there. So I started on Ebay thinking I would get to see a variety of her styles from some past and present seasons. Next thing I know these Mary-Jane Slingbacks were mine for $10 and some shipping. Well those and some flats and a purse and clutch. Oh man, Ebay has taken over and I am far to poor and easily manipulated to get sucked into cheap fashions. Anyways, my shoes arrived this weekend and I couldn't wait for work on Monday to put them on. I even wore them all Sunday night as I put away all my laundry and did some housework. It's something I've always done, as soon as I get a new pair I throw off my coat and prance around the house in them. I've always told myself it's to help break them in, and to make sure that the fit is the same at home in real life as it was walking in a straight line back and forth in the store. Of course in truth I secretly am too excited to wait to wear my shoes for a special occassion. Any reason to put on great shoes is a good enough reason for me. I originally rolled up my jeans just so the shoes could be easily seen for the pictures, but decided to wear them just like that today. Alittle cuff at the bottom and a simple top made it an easy dressing day. I didn't realize of course that it is negative 2 degrees outside, which made the cuff and shoes seem a little unreasonable, but here in the office with my perfect little space heater, I have no doubts about my choices this morning.

We had some tickets this past week with some friends of ours to go see Avenue Q, as the off broadway production was strolling through town. The play itself was great. It was funnier than I had anticipated and the sheer talent of the stage actors always amazes me. I had spent all day at work contemplating what I was going to wear. I was in the mood to get all dressed up for a night at the theater. Of course, dressing up is entirely unnecessary for this kind of theater, especially in this town but I tend not to get dressed based on what I think the common style of the crowd will be. I had decided that I wanted to wear black tights and some shoes, especially since tights seem to be everywhere I look lately. The only pair of tights I own are these cute Betsy Johnson pair. I own them in both black and gray and they have fun vertical designs running down them. I've worn them a few times but I could not seem to get it right last week. I put on the above outfit last week and luckily decided to take a quick picture before running out the door. I had no idea that the stockings made me look like a bit of a street walker. In long skirts, the tights make me look squatty, a problem my 5'7 frame doesn't usually have so I have to be very specific with my outfit selection for the pair. I thought the short skirt would maybe highlight the tights, and because I don't have any short black skirts, white would have to do. One look at that picture though and I sprinted back in my room and through on some jeans. I suppose that's to point of trying on various outfits. What looks good in your head almost never looks the same on and often things need to be adjusted. But what did they do in the world before digital cameras? I suppose it's no wonder the 60's had some major hits and some even more major misses! In the long run my jeans were perfect for the occassion. I stopped at Kohl's after work the following day in hopes of finding some great tights. I have always had the problem of wearing stockings or tights one time before a nicely placed run has found it's way up my calf. For this reason I tend to avoid all things thin and sheer. What a waste of money for one time use leggings. Even still, I am determined to find some adult appropriate leg wear. I have kept my eyes opened for weeks now with no success. In fact I've never even been in Kohl's but so many of my friend's have good luck there, and it was on my way home so I found myself pulling into the parking lot. Lucky I did too. They were having a 75% off sale in every department. I found some great sweater dresses, my other much saught after wardrobe piece. I found a few but even with their lower prices, it wasn't what I had hoped to spend. I'm down a roomate in a month and all of my bills will be doubling so currently saving is the name of the game. I did discover though, that Kohl's has adult tights! Microfiber tights at that :) And lucky for me they were all 1/2 off. I walked out with a pair of black, of brown and some argyle black ones. I was so excited and immediately started inventorying all of my now possible outfits. Saturday night we went out for a friend's birthday, and so did my black tights. I had intended to take an outfit picture, but forgot until the morning after as I'm waking in my pajamas. The microfiber tights made there way safely home and without a tear or a rib. I think this was due in part to the thicker matierial, and due largely in part to the fact that I am an adult now so they are much durable when you arn't crawling around a play-ground. Anyways as Monday morning starts I am happy with my successful weekend. Black Shoes, Black tights and a bunch of Black and white photos.

Vintage Coat

I found this vintage coat on Ebay ( suprising I know) I think I may be in love. I'm usually not a online clothing shopper for fear of fit, but with a coat the fit isn't as necessary. And technically it is my size anyways. I just love the color of it. I already have a bit of an extensive coat collection, but coats always last the longest because they get the least amount of use. And when you live in the northeast, you can never have too many nice thick heavy coats. Heck you can never have too many light coats either. Even with shipping assuming I win the auction it would still be under $20 which is a sensible investment. A pretty investment too :)

Purple Shoes

" My plan to only buy shoes if they are a color I don't already own is more difficult than I expected"

What an interesting concept...

Clean Underwear

My shoes came in! Well one pair did. Now only two bags and another pair to go and I am a happy ebay shopper :) They are just as they were promised, shinny and red and hardly ever worn. In fact the bottoms have absolutely no scuff marks, and no dirt and were black as day so there is a good chance that they actually haven't even been worn. They are so cute. I love that they are a darker red so when I wear them they don't shout " look at my clown shoes!" and instead give a great look of class. I was happy to wear my shoes to work today, but I was even happier when I got a phone call this morning. Back in October I went through some testing that came back slightly abnormal. Nothing scary but even still I was referred to an endocrinologist. My scheduled appointment date? Late feb almost 6 months after my first physicians appointment. I was more then irritated especially because I want results, not prolonged craziness. I managed to get myself on their cancellation list, so when the call came in at 9:15 that they had an appointment open for 10, I aplogized to my supervisor and jumped in the car. Overall the appointment went fine. The new doctor seems nice, but I'll feel better after these test results come back. They'll have a better idea of what we're looking at, if it's anything at all. That's what's so frustrating, according to this doctor I may need to be put on a few regulating pills, or maybe it's nothing and I should get on some diet and excersise plans. Crazy. The only bump came when after giving 6 vials of blood I felt alittle faint. And by alittle I mean alot. I laid down while the nurse got me a juice box. Oh the prescious naturally sugar filled box. I understand, that I am an adult and I have the same amount of blood as everyone else, but I swear every time blood is drawn I feel like I'm loosing mass amounts. I passed out once after donating blood and haven't done that since. I've often thought about heading back to donation centers, but today was a doctor recommended withdrawl and even still needed to lay down, bring my body temperature back down and sip on some sweet apple juice. The nurse did compliment my shoes, prior to seeing the doctor so she wasn't even attempting to distract me from fainting. What a lovely red filled day!

Vintage Boots

Okay we all know that if it were up to me I would never spend a dime on rent and would instead shop much more often. Especially for shoes, but I’ve recently found a way to channel my addiction. Especially because I don’t have the money to buy.. um anything anymore but still have the desire to shop. So e-bay it is. I probably spend about 2 hours a day at work just browsing through the various types of styles online. My trick, never get specific about the things I look for. So I type in “vintage boots” in the search bar. I get 3000 hits, but about 75% of them won’t be my size. And I will inevitably fall in love with a specific pair of vintage boots, and they will not even be close to my size. How cute are the boots I found earlier? And for a $10 bid free shipping I would jump all over these vintage 70’s Frye boots, and I would wear them all the time. I love the red, except they are a size 6. Thus my big foot feet won’t be fitting anywhere near those beauties. The best part of my new found e-bay love is that I have now fallen in love with those red boots, and nothing I find even in my size will make me want them as much as those red boots, so I won’t even want to buy anything. But that won’t stop me from looking of course. It’s just that nothing will compare. See that’s the trick, fall in love with something you can’t have and than nothing will be able to stack up. Smart right? Besides, I won’t even look at stuff over $10 with shipping so that puts a huge limit on the styles I look at anyways.

Even still those red boots are so cute aren’t they?

Football Jersey

Yay for the Steelers! We had a little football party yesterday. Everyone brought an appertizer or two and we enjoyed the games. JT let me borrow an old jersey of his and he wore his trusty favorite Parker jersey, and a mustache for alittle extra superstitious help. Well the hairy upper lip must have worked because the Steelers are going to the Superbowl! Personally I don't have a favorite team. I loved my football picks for that very reason, with every game I had someone to root for and that's half the fun. Johnny however is a die-hard Steelers fan and so being a great girlfriend I am aware that if his team has a crappy game, he will have a crappy week and so in turn will I. Which means my friends, I am a Steelers fan :) Secretly I enjoyed getting into the spirit. The downside to not having a faithful team to follow is you never have a reason to dress for the occassion. Yesterday however I gathered my appropriate gold shirt, long sleeve black did a little layering, a borrowed jersey and some cute yellow underwear. Low and behold I was more than ready for the game in my gear. Since they are going to the Superbowl I'm already considering my outfit options. This isn't about fashion of course, this is a matter of dedication. Most of the year I avoid pairing yellow and black for the obvious fear of looking like the poor little bumblebee in the blind melon music video, but this is a special occassion so I figure, pile it on. I think it's the football color scheme has got me thinking about my red, white and blue options for tommorrow. Of course, I'm not your classic flag vested lady at the 4th of July picnic, it will be classy and the guys here in the office won't even notice that I've specifically dressed for the day, but Inaguration Day only comes once every 4 years, mind as well do it up.

Camera Strap

So here’s the game.

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.

3) Explain the picture.

4) Tag 4 people to do the same.

I had no interest in addressing this tag frankly at first. Mostly because I don't have a working computer at home. I use the one at work which means that opening the picture folders and I would have to talk about a logo or product shot. Nothing interesting. Out of interest I did click through to see where I would end up and here I am with a picture of our Press Conference about a month ago. Because we don't have a company photographer I was taking a bunch of shots myself and this happens to be one of my favorites. The picture is of Ross, one of the sons of the owner and the Vice President of the company. Ross happens to be the same age as me and it's been fun to see him develop as a leader in the company in the short time I've been here. He is always smiling and actually when I took this picture wasn't even looking at me. I love taking pictures of people and saw the Press Conference as an opportunity to get some great random shots. Ross is wearing the hard hats we had made up for the conference. We are in the middle of building our new warehouse so at the press conference we announced that expansion in the company as well as to announce that we became to official hot dog of the Minor league Baseball team in the area. It's a great opportunity. I spent weeks trying to get everything ready for our press conference, which was themed " Baseball, hot dogs and Apple Pie. The All American Team." The conference came right after that huge ice storm hit and as a result 15 minutes before everyone was to show up, we lost power completely. That meant that plant tours where not going to happen, and that we would have to move the conference outside because there were no lights inside. We had to leave the doors open to allow what light into the store we could which meant that we all had to wear our jackets and gloves even after while everyone mingled. It turned out to be a great event. A complete success even with no lights or heat.

I tag anyone who reads this! It's great to stop for a minute and think of things that may have past no matter how long ago it was.

Denim Jacket

I have to admit, I am so very envious of many of the bloggers I read so diligently each day. I really enjoy reading through every one's posts and finding a sense of fashion inspiration along with these young writers. I must admit though, I wish I could be like so many of them. It seems that they all live by this " no pants" rule. And they all always looks so cute in their various skirts and dresses. I however will always be a jeans and tshirt kind of girl. Don't get me wrong, I spend most of my summer in skirts and I love wearing dresses but at the end of the day, I will always chose denim. I have so many jeans. Dark jeans, light jeans, long jeans, flare jeans, skinny jeans, torn jeans. I love that a simple change in denim choice can completely change an outfit. I have jeans I prefer to wear out with heels and jeans that will always go with hoodies. I love taking a great pair of jeans and finding a great shirt jacket and long necklace and making a completely appropriate office outfit. I love wearing boots over my jeans or wearing heels with them. I will always be a jeans girl. I will also always be a sneaker girl. It amazes me to hear people say they don't own any sneakers. I have running sneakers, dressy sneakers, work sneakers, flat sneakers. But again, maybe it's my choice of location. Maybe it's that I'm the average American women. I love fashion, but I know that in the day to day world I live in, getting dressed sometimes needs to serve a purpose more than out of passion. I wish I could spend every night diligently piecing together my next wearable art, but for some reason every time I look in my closet I get tunnel vision and see myself pulling a shirt, cardigan, dress pants and promising myself I'll dress it up with shoes and great accessories. It's in those off moments, going to dinner, family events, movie night or the weekly trivia session in which I attempt to mix it up a bit. I think if I lived in a big city I would take a different approach to acceptability. Sometimes I want to pack up and move because I'm curious as to what kind of person stylistically I would be in a city full of individuality. But even on my many trips down state, I am always impressed with how many people walking by are wearing their walking sneakers jeans and a sweater. What a pleasure to live in such a world in which differences are simply accepted as individuality. I envy those lovely ladies and a large part of me wishes I could be as adventurous and as dressy as them. But I also like my " style". My friends have always joked that I have my own ideas of fashion and I like that. Fashion isn't about doing what everyone else is doing anyways, it's about paving your own path. Taking peoples ideas and making them grander. What a wonderfully fashionable world we live in!

Ear muffs

Frustrating day today. Frustrated with work but mostly frustrated that its a brisk 2 degrees outside. I'm suprised to say that this morning the worst part was waking up and not the walk to the car, or waiting for it to warm up. I suppose it's because I don't mind the cold as much as I hate the wind. Now with the wind chill today they estimate it being around 8 degree below in actual temperature. Even still, my biggest frustrations have come from inside the warm building. Just goes to show, you can't always blame it on the weatherman.

The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

Cheap Shoes

Well the blog world has done it again. It has not only allowed me to discover new places to shop, but it has also given me ways to justify my spending. What I'm talking about is a fun blog shown to me by luckymag.com. I love getting my issue of Lucky Magazine and knew their website was probably just as great. Sure enough they have lots of great tips, and some awesome blogs to check out. One of their editors posts a blog dedicated to the art of shopping on Ebay. Now in the past I have bought a few things off the great auction website, mostly technology accesories. The ocassional car charger here, phone skins there, but the idea of clothes shopping has never crossed my mind. In fact it still hasn't and that's how I found myself searching through their handbag selection. Really I was just trying to get time to pass at work, and next thing I knew I found my next bag purchase. A few bids later, a new bag and a new clutch were mine. The problem with Ebay of course is that you can justify and extra dollar so much faster. In fact in a store, when I find things for cheap I still debate in my head whether it's a smart purchase, and if the owner walked over to me and stated," you can have the bag, but for fifty cents more and if you say no, I'm going to give it to that lady over there," I would laugh in her face! Online however, it's a click or two and I find myself willing to spend more. While clothes are still a no-go for my purchasing online, mostly for reasons of fit I decided Ebay would be a good place to look at the Jessica Simpson shoe collection. When I first heard she was coming out with one, I was sure I would hate it but I am finding more and more images of models in her shoes that I just love. I thought that if I looked on Ebay I may find things that would be technically out of season so I could get a better idea of what her designs were like. Next thing I know, I've placed tons of bids and spent my Saturday checking the statuses on my phone. All Friday night too infact. I won 2 pairs in the end. The cutest black mary-jane slingbacks from Jessica Simpson for $10 and some cute red flats from nine west for $6. Oh the joy of a good deal. Now comes the wait. I have no idea how long it will be before the packages arrive at my door and I have a feeling that if my roomate is not home when the package arrives I will be finding a tag on my door letting me know that I will have some pick-ups to do at UPS. Either way, the suspense is killing me. I just want to know that what I think I purchased is exatually what I got. Maybe being a bargain shopper doesn't always result in good things. And just maybe it does...

Repurposed Jacket

As I got ready to go out last Friday night I was simply not in the mood to wear anything. I think it's largely to blame on the weather. It is just so cold and windy out that I don't want to step out of the house much less do so looking cute. It means I need to wear lots of layers and it can sometimes be hard to make just one statement with so many different pieces of clothing. Friday night was especially hard. We were going to a local bar to see a friend's boyfriend and his band play. Thus the catch. The bar will inevitably be hot inside so I need to find an outfit ( coat included) that will keep me warm while I'm walking the hundreds ( or so it seems) blocks from the bar to the car and yet won't be too much to wear inside the heat. Up until last week, whenever we've gone out I've chosen cute over comfort which means a dress on my birthday, a sleevless top for a friends, and on each of those incidences all I can remember about those evening is the crappy walk back to the car. And really, that is just a few moments of a great night so how to choose an outfit that won't cramp your style. Thus, my repurposed hair piece. It's actually a broach, and a free one at that. Years ago when I was working in retail some of the sweaters came with broaches and we would often find them randomly laying around the dressing rooms and in corners under racks. Months after they had been sitting in drawers waiting to find an owner they became open for use. That's how I ended up with 5 big broaches. I am not a broach person and actually have never wore them, and frankly I knew that I never would but they are so pretty. For the last 3 years that have dutifully sat on my table as nice little decorations. Friday as I hum and hayed over what to put on, I decided to live on the wild side. I pulled half of my hair back tieing it with little clear hairbands, and pinning it with bobby pins. I than pinned the broach into my hair. Just that simple. The pin stayed put all night even whilest I danced my little heart out. ( can you blame me? They played Bon Jovi!) I don't know if it looked as cute as it made me feel but isn't that half the reason we choose what we do? Because of the way it makes us feel? Johnny didn't love it, at all infact. But half way through the night he let me know it had grown on him, just as I knew it would. Suddenly I find myself trying to find ways to wear all of the broaches! Some are just not right for my hair, but maybe as a belt buckle, or to girly up some jeans. Whatever way I find I can't help but always feel some satisfaction is repurposing. There is no feeling like spending no money, and feeling like you look like a million bucks. Especially in upstate New York in January.