Ice, ice, baby

Hello and happy Friday!  Boy, for having a short week this week it sure felt long to me!  And here I thought I was outsmarting my body by taking Monday off and tricked it into not feeling the effects of Daylight Savings Time - but I was wrong.  The extra day really made little difference.  Oh well, the weekend is here and that is all that matters!

It is miserable outside today.  Freezing rain and ice pellets (when did this become a term - I thought we used to call it sleet).  But I refused to dress in something drab and boring, I needed a pick me up, so I pulled out my favorite flirty denim skirt for summer and then just winterized it a bit.  Leggings and boots FTW.

Pink shirt - F21

Sweater - American Rag, thrifted

Skirt -  thrifted

Leggings - Steve Madden, DSW

Boots - Old Navy

Necklace - S&D

Bag - Olivia and Joy, TJMaxx

So even though I'm not panicking, I feel it's worth at least mentioning - Google announced that Google Reader is going away July 1st.  Now I don't know about other Blogger users, but I don't use Google Reader, I just use my Dashboard list that pops up when I log into Blogger of all the folks I follow on Google Friend Connect.  Google has not said if Google Friend Connect is affected by this change or not. Some folks are speculating that it's going away as well, but I don't know that an official announcement has been made on that (if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me).  So to make a long story short - I just wanted to say that IF GFC does go away, I am on Bloglovin, I have a Facebook page and I'm on Twitter - those links are on the right hand side at the top, the cute little buttons that Laura made me when she designed my new site - feel free to use any of them.

As for blogs I follow, sometimes my Blogger Dashboard doesn't load all my favorite blogs properly, so I'm already double following some of you on Bloglovin anyway, so if GFC does go away, I'll be set.  But like I said, I'm not freaking out too much yet.  Maybe I should be, but I'm not.  That's my story for now.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!! Be safe if you're out celebrating St. Patty's Day! And, in case I haven't said it in awhile - thanks for stopping by and sharing in my world just a little!

Challenges and deceptions

I succeeded in moving faster this morning!  It was a little under the wire for getting out the door on time but not nearly as bad as yesterday!  I have more ideas of things I can do to save time in the morning as well, so I think it'll get better and better.  Funny how you forget little details that can make a huge difference - things like getting the coffee ready the night before, etc.  Simple solutions.

I struggle with these pants a bit in how to style them.  My sister-in-law gave them to me, they didn't quite work for her and they were brand new at the time.  I wore them once last spring and then kind of put them aside because while they are a very light color, they are also corduroy, so that didn't lend itself well to much wear into the summer.  Anyway, they're comfy if nothing else and I'll keep trying with them, they just pose more of a challenge than some of my pants.

I decided to switch to one of my favorite bags from last fall/winter.  I should call this bag "The Incredible Deceiving Pocket Bag."  The zippered pockets?  They are just for show, the Pants Monkey learned this lesson one night last winter.  My boss thought they were actual pockets too, she thought it would be an awesome bag to have for carrying lots of stuff.  Well it is, the inside is nice and big and deep, but those outside pockets mean nothing, sort of like the points on Whose Line is it Anyway.  I still love this bag though!

Shirt - Mossimo, Target

Pants - Athleta (from SIL)

Necklace - S&D

Bag - Olivia and Joy, from TJ Maxx

Shoes - Steve Madden, thrifted

Brown bear what do you see?

 Very brown outfit today!  The mercury is going above freezing today so I felt like digging out a skirt.  I originally put a longer skirt on with this sweater and didn't really like it, so I went for a shorter one here.  It's a rather layered outfit too, guess I'm getting more practice for next week's Layer Up challenge!

So I look very much like my mother.  If you've met her or are one of my friends who knows her, you're probably going, yes Beth and the Pope is Catholic.  In other words, this is not new information, but I'm struck sometimes by just how much I look like her in some pictures.  Some days I just really see it more than others.  I don't have a comparison picture ready to share but I'll put one up sometime so you all can see what I mean.  I honestly don't mind looking so much like her.  She's aged well so far and doesn't look old enough to have a 30 year old daughter, so that makes me feel confident that I will age well too!

I've been back to using my Olivia and Joy bag again.  I have really been liking a bag that can be worn cross-body if I can do so this winter.  And a longer strapped bag has been easier to wear with a bulky coat too.  Funny story about this bag - we were sitting watching TV the other night and the Pants Monkey was going upstairs to get one of my cupcakes.  I had Big Pippin curled up on my lap and she was super comfy.  We have a joke about not being able to do things because we have "COL" or "cat on lap" disorder.  I wanted my cell phone and didn't want to disrupt Pippin so I asked the Pants Monkey to bring it back with him.  I said it was in the zipper pocket of my bag.  He's gone for a little bit and soon yells down "Which zipper pocket, this bag has like hundreds of them!"  I had to explain that actually, most of the zippers are not actual pockets, they're just for decoration.  He finally found it after that.  And of course, Pippin jumped up off my lap as soon as he was back!

We're almost to the end of the week friends!  Hoping today is less eventful than yesterday.  If you follow my Twitter feed you might have seen a tweet from me about having to call in the theft of a plant from my office building.  I'm not kidding.  You can't make this stuff up.  Oh the life of an admin.  You know you're jealous.

Outfit rundown:
Brown t-shirt - Mossimo, Target
Sweater - TJ Maxx (gift from sister in law)
Skirt - Old Navy (old)
Tights - Target
Boots - Target (old)
Bracelet - Stella and Dot
Necklace - Bead for Life
Bag - Olivia and Joy via TJ Maxx

Inspiration Monday - Out of the loop

I love participating in Inspiration Monday because I love a good challenge, especially when it comes to my wardrobe, but I gotta tell you, I don't know that I've known who about half of these young actresses have been that I'm copying!  I'm so out of the loop!  I blame it on two things - 1. I am getting older and 2. I don't have cable TV, so I really don't see many commercials or do a lot of channel flipping.  I do read People magazine though so you'd think that would keep me up to date!  Oh well.  Our inspiration model this week is this girl here - Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

This was an easy look for me to copy - while I don't have booties like hers, it gave me an excuse to wear the new boots I bought at Old Navy's after Christmas sale and it was perfect because I wore this outfit for my low key New Years and it did start snowing before we got home, so I was happy to have boots on!

I wore the shades here to try to be just like her.  Overall it really wasn't very sunny on Saturday.  The Pants Monkey and I ran a bunch of errands during the day and I did bring my shades, but didn't really end up needing them.

I love these boots - they are so warm and comfy!  I hope they'll be making another appearance soon.  I have switched back to my Olivia & Joy bag that I got at TJ Maxx early in the fall - I have decided that when I'm running errands or shopping it is nice to have a crossbody bag and be hands free, this one lets me do that and fits nicely over my heavy winter coat!

I was excited to wear a scarf too, I'm really trying to incorporate more scarves into my outfits because it's so popular right now to do so!  I have had this one for a number of years actually, just never knew what to do with it until now!

And once again, I accidentally deleted a comment on my last blog post instead of hitting publish.  Maybe I should have another New Years resolution to not moderate comments from my phone....At any rate, my apologies!  I don't want to alienate anyone!

There will be another outfit post today as I'm wearing one of my Christmas goodies on my first day back at work, but I didn't want to make this post too long, so that outfit will be posted a little later.  Hope everyone had a great New Years and enjoy today if you're luckier than I am and don't have to work!  Don't forget to head over to Two Birds and check out what other folks posted for Inspiration Monday!

Rundown:

T-shirt - Maurices

Sweater - Mossimo, Target

Jeans - Old Navy

Boots - Old Navy

Bag - Olivia & Joy, TJ Maxx

Sunnies - Fun Sisters

Scarf - Target

Earrings - Stella and Dot

You know it's Monday when...

...your pictures don't turn out the way you'd hoped and you don't have any time to really fix the situation.  We did some major rearranging at home this weekend and some of my lighting has changed in some rooms so indoor pictures might be more experiemental again.  I'll have to take advantage of outside more, at least while it's still light enough to do so.

So this sweater is brand spanking new and I love it.  Thanks Tar-jay boutique! (Target).  I really wanted a sweater in this color to replace one I had for years and years that I finally just sent down the line.  The price was right on this bad boy - $19.99.  Can you beat that?

It's still a bit warmish out for October, but I hear that is all finally changing later this week.  I'm glad because I have an adorable new blazer from Forever 21 that I bought over a week ago and haven't been able to wear yet!  Happy Monday, try and make it a great day!

Rundown:
Red shirt - Fang (juniors dept at Herbergers)
Sweater - Mossimo from Target
Pants - Studio Y from Maurices (several seasons old)
Sandals - Tommy Hilfiger from DSW
Bag - Olivia and Joy from TJ Maxx
Necklace - gift from jerseymaids via Etsy

Success!

I take about five to six pictures every day for the blog and have mentioned here before too that I sometimes have problems with my camera.  The Pants Monkey helped me with some settings and the pictures I have been taking have been getting better, but I often still have one or two that come out a little fuzzy each day.  That was not the case today!  I'm so excited that all the pictures I took today were successful!

I love this new dress I have - it was one of my finds at the thrift store on Labor Day and it has such lovely colors for Fall!  It's perfect for these days that are still a bit on the warmish side.  I can hopefully wear it into the cooler months too with tights and boots or shoes of some sort!

The rundown:
Dress - Axcess by Claiborne (thrifted from Unique Thrift Store)
Shrug - Maurices
Bag - Oliva and Joy (TJ Maxx)
Sandals - Tommy Hilfiger (DSW)
Bracelet - Stella and Dot
Necklace - Butterfly Boutique

Hump day

So who else is happy that it's already Wednesday?  Man I love short weeks.  Next week will be a shorty too because we're going up north with some friends next weekend.  Definitely looking forward to that.

Annnndddd.....I broke my no purse buy.  I know.  I'm ashamed, but only a little!  I got an amazing deal on this bag, thank you TJ Maxx.  I plan to sell a couple of my purses to Clothes Mentor soon that I'm just not digging, so I feel that this was a fair trade off.  Other than that, today's outfit isn't terribly special, but definitely has some lovely colors for fall!

The rundown:
Shirt - Maurices (thrifted from Plato's Closet)
Pants - Mossimo for Target (thrifted from Clothes Mentor)
Bag - Olivia and Joy "Peek a Boo" found at TJ Maxx
Bracelet - Stella and Dot
Necklace - jerseymaids via Etsy