things I've been wearing

This morning I was in a panic. I had an appointment at 10 at a temp agency, and I suddenly decided to dress very professionally. This is something I should have thought about yesterday, but yesterday I said to myself, "oh, I'll just wear those black pants and a nice shirt." I forgot that I don't actually own any nice shirts. Fancy shirts, maybe, but not anything that could be defined as "professional" or "business casual" or anything normal like that. No no, I ditched most of my business clothes when I quit my office job over a year ago. I did keep one button-up blouse around, just in case. I've wanted to banish it from my closet so many times, but the voice of reason in my head told me that I should keep it for emergencies. The problem is, I don't even like it. I don't even like it at all. It looks fine in this picture, but it has slightly puffed sleeves and a funny tie in the back, and this morning I just felt silly when I put it on.

peg leg?

But it was the most professional-looking top I had, so I decided to go with it. However, once I'd decided on that I most certainly couldn't wear the black pants: they're probably not even the same shade of black. So, a skirt? Do I own any business-like skirts? Oh, not really. 'Cept this one which, like the black blouse, has been hanging in my closet just in case. And lucky me, this is one of the skirts I chose for the wardrobe challenge! Funny enough, I only wore it because I felt forced. The shoes, too - I haven't worn them in ages, but I keep them just in case. So, by this great misfortune, I ended up wearing 3 pieces I don't really enjoy - but they worked together, at least! My appointment went fine, and now I'm planning to stock up on some professional clothes that I actually want to wear.

By the way, can you tell I got a haircut? I bet not! It looked pretty neat the day of the trim, but it's descended back into madness. Here is somewhat of a before picture-- it was getting really long:


And an outfit from last week! And finally, a picture in a room you haven't seen yet! This is the room that we informally call "the scary room" or my "craft room." I've warmed up to the bright green paint a little, while Robert seems to be hating it more and more. Want to know something funny? This is the house's master bedroom... the previous owners actually slept in this monstrosity. We chose one of the smaller bedrooms with a less offensive green paint color as our own. Maybe one day we'll repaint it, but it's certainly exciting! I painted my sewing machine table white a couple of weeks ago - it was originally yellow and that was just not working with the green walls.

Happy Tuesday!

the birds, again

Another outfit for my wardrobe challenge! In 2 weeks I've only managed to put together 3 outfits (out of 12) -- this is definitely going to drag on a while. But I'm determined to complete it! Now that it's warmer outside, I know I'll be wearing skirts and dresses much more often. It feels SO GOOD in the sun!

This is what I wore yesterday to meet Robert for lunch.

Cardigan: Anthropologie / Dress: Converse (from Target) / Slip: Vintage Hem / Sandals: Target

I thought the birds might be too busy with the zipper, but it worked out just fine!

And I remembered to accessorize! Ring: my lavaliere / Cuff bracelet: stamp

Ah, macro settings... so much detail. Can you see where the ring starts to irritate my finger after a few hours? That's why I don't wear it so often! Too bad, because it's one of my favorite pieces of jewelry.

Oh and if you didn't see my baby goat post yesterday, go back and look! They're worth looking at a lot. I keep showing them to people just so I can stare at them more.

ensemble number two!

I'm back, kind of! Do you ever find that after spending a few days away from the internet, it seems like a chore to return? I do. Some days I wish I wasn't even friends with the internet, because it distracts me so much from other adventures I could be having.

I have plenty of exciting pictures and stories from this past weekend to share, but I thought I'd ease back into blogging with the second outfit for my self-imposed wardrobe challenge. To be honest, this is something I only wore for about 30 minutes. I was t-shirt & jeansing it again, but put this on when my mom got out her camera to take some pictures of me and Robert in front of our house. And then I changed back into my boring clothes so I could work in our yard. But I will wear this again for some fanciful occasion! Minus the stripey socks, haha.



Check out my new [perfectly well-worn Justin] boots! I like them for their simplicity. I had some nice thrifting luck over the past few days. More on that later!

ensemble number one!

Today I put together the first outfit for my wardrobe challenge!

Sorry the picture's a little blurred! Still finding the best spots for lighting in this house.

I'm going to give myself an extra high-five for using this dress, because it's something I thrifted months ago and have never worn! It came with a matching long jacket, and I was thinking I might wear it to my sister's wedding [but didn't]. I originally had a pair of black tights and grey shoes on, because it's still a little chilly here, but after a couple of hours they needed to come off. Not only were they uncomfortable, but when I looked at my first set of pictures, I looked entirely unbalanced. I decided that my pale legs would be a better match for the neutrals!

I don't know if this dress is very flattering on me: it's a bit tight on my hips but not as fitted in the waist as I would like... but I still think this would be a nice thing to wear on a summer evening! Guess I'm getting a bit ahead of the seasons.

But it's warming up! We're hoping to spend some time in the yard this weekend. Happy Friday!

wardrobe challenge

I've been dressing really terribly lately: just outright boring! Jeans and t-shirts have become my every day wear because I'm at home most of the time. It makes sense to me, but I also know it doesn't make for an exciting blog post -- which is exactly why I haven't done an outfit post in forever. But today I came upon an idea that sounds like a fun way to get some of my nice clothes back into rotation. I found the idea at What I Wore, who was inspired by La Fille D'or.

The challenge is to find 3 items in your closet which you never wear, and then over a couple of weeks try to create 4 outfits based around each item (for a total of 12 outfits). Here are my 3!

This little sweater shrug that I got on clearance at Anthropologie a while back..

...for obvious reasons. I can never find a good way to wear it!

This pleated skirt.

Seems like a simple enough piece, but I hardly ever use it.

I bought this skirt to go under my wedding dress, but feel like I should get more use from it.

It has neat pleating and is great for layering. I think I never wear it because I'm afraid I'll get it dirty.

I'm not sure I can get all 12 outfits into a 2-week period, but I'll play dress up around the house and see what I can put together! This should get me motivated to dress a little nicer!