in which i am raspberry-ready

Every week I so look forward to Friday. I've been kind of a blog slacker lately, and I almost didn't post today because I overslept (again--I guess that's what I get for staying up until 1 AM, again, working on this silly dress!), but I rallied and here we are. This is the sort of outfit I would have put together a couple of years ago, but it's not really my style. Problem is, "my style" seems to be a pretty simple equation: dress/heels/tights/the end, and sometimes I want to mix it up a bit!

(chambray tunic: tjmaxx; striped dress: zara; tights/belt/scarf: goodwill; boots: seychelles)

The weather has been crazy lately. Must be those solar flares? The temperatures are fluctuating daily between 20s-30s and 50s. Today and this weekend will be cold, but next week is looking verrrrrry nice :) I cannot wait to wear springy outfits next week (and beyond)!

Tonight will probably be pretty low-key. I've been craving French New Wave lately, so I might browse through Netflix to see what Godard films I can find. I'm also hoping to finally finish the dress! (Trouble is, I can't really read subtitles and sew at the same time... I need to brush up on my French!)

Happy Weekends to all!

in which diamonds are a girl's best friend

It is a gross rainy day, so I figured I could use a little color in my life. These jewel-print tights are really fun, but I don't wear a lot of bright colors so I wasn't sure how to incorporate them into my wardrobe--and then it hit me. And this outfit was born:

(dress: h&m; heels: seychelles; tights/hat: gifts)

Speaking of gross rainy days--WTF? Weather like this is why I left the Pacific Northwest, and while I do get rather irritable when I have to clean snow off my car, this is just weird. Also, what is up with all of the people swarming my photo spot? The location I've been using lately has had about eight cars parked in it for the past two days. What gives?

Sometimes I like working in an office. I like my morning ritual--pulling into the parking lot, starting up my computer, going downstairs for my coffee, sipping from my toasty-warm mug while waiting for the day to begin... and then I'm over it. The A/C kicks on, there is a crisis or two, my butt falls asleep from prolonged sitting, my coffee goes down my gullet and is gone, somebody starts eating something that smells delicious, the clock seems to stand still... and then I wonder if mopping the floor of the coffee shop was really that bad. But oh yeah... $$$$.

Whine, whine, whine. Tonight I'll be hitting the gym and doing laundry--but don't worry, no tanning for me.

in which you say november i say september

Having a blog is weird. I'm so much more aware of the weather than I would be otherwise. Like, normally I would be delighted that it is warm and snow-free around here. But that throws off my winter-weather dressing (and I feel like I've exhausted my autumnal outfits).

(dress/belt: thrifted; socks: uo; necklace/scarf: gifts; shoes: lulu*s)

Anyway, I didn't go to the gym last night because I forgot my gym clothes and it was a big mess (but I'm going tonight!), and instead I just made chili (yum) and wrote 2,000 words! Hooray :) If I'm going to ditch the gym I have to at least be productive...

Not going to lie, pretty ready for the weekend. And it's only Tuesday. Sigh.

in which i've got a cape to keep me warm

It has been SO WARM here for the past couple of days--positively balmy. That springtime feeling is in the air, like everything has started to thaw even before freezing. Not that I'm complaining. It's just wacky in that "Day After Tomorrow" global-warming way.

(cape: goodwill; dress: thrifted/gift; boots: seychelles)

I'm taking advantage of this lovely weather by letting my bare legs breathe a little longer, and wearing this sensationally soft new cape/poncho that I scored at Goodwill this weekend. It may look warm, but my inability to wear a coat over its armless bulk will render it useless to me in the coming months. I do hope it snows a bit before Christmas, preferrably before K leaves for the west coast--I want to get in the holiday spirit!

This weekend was low-key. I didn't do much moving around, but I did manage to spend most of Saturday tip-typing away and getting a significant amount of work done on the novel. Days like that are the best. Plans to continue tonight...

Happy Monday, lovelies!

in which my cape escape has ended

I'm baaaack! After a ridiculously relaxing week spent passing idle hours on the beach, we drove home through an epic rainstorm (seeking refuge at H&M and stuffing ourselves with Indian food--sooo good--like chipmunks storing nuts along the way) and spent a cozy Sunday watching movies and generally hiding from Irene. It didn't seem so bad, despite the terrible news from Southern VT, but by morning it was clearly worse than we had thought. Not only was our water black as night, but every exit route out of town had become a lake-like extension of the rushing Winooski river (which hasn't flooded this much since the epic flood of 1927--20 ft!). I won't lie, I wasn't devastated by the fact that I was unable to get to the office on Monday morning...

(skirt/blouse/scarf/belt: thrifted; boots: seychelles)

I didn't take as many photos at the Cape this year as I have in years past, and I'm not sure why. I guess I just get tired of playing paparazzi sometimes and want to just step back and enjoy the moment. Perhaps I took fewer photos because we did more... instead of taking long leisurely strolls after dinner at the house, we packed our evenings full of fun & games. I'll do a quickie Cape Cod post later on...

My dad and brother are currently in Washington DC with Bill McKibben to protest the Keystone XL pipeline project, and I'm quite proud of their commitment to the cause. Somebody has to be! It's kind of funny that last year my brother came to Cape Cod straight from a West Virginian jail, and this summer he and my dad left the Cape and went straight down to DC for a (probable) stint in prison. My family is just a bunch of jailbirds!

Meanwhile, I am getting super excited for my autumn wardrobe, and although I've let blogging slide a bit this summer I fully intend to ramp it up to its former glory as we transition into September and the holiday season. I've already stocked up on fall dresses (from Goodwill and H&M) and can't wait to wear them! I'm trying to figure out what K and I should do for Labor Day weekend and I'm a bit stuck. I wanted to go camping but the weather is supposed to be kind of icky, and I can't really afford to shell out for a hotel and a day (or two) of driving and sightseeing in some new town. So we'll see.

What about you? Any exciting Labor Day plans??

in which i participate in a theme day(and get a flat tire)

Firstly, let me state for the record: I have never really been one to participate in "theme" days. Even when I was on student council in High School and it was our job to organize said theme days during spirit week I often just showed up in my everyday garb. I did, however, dress "crazy" on the last day of senior year... I think I have photos somewhere that I should probably try to dig up (think knee-high rainbow-striped toe socks, enormous silver platform mary janes, a purple wrap skirt, and my then-favorite hairstyle: double buns). Anyway, due to the insane thunder-and-lightning, tornado-watch, flash-flood sort of weather we've been having (many people couldn't make it in to work today because so many roads are closed due to flooding), my supervisor suggested we have a Hawaiian shirt day. I decided to take on the challenge. This shirt is the closest I could get :)

(skirt/shirt: thrifted; necklace: forever 21; shoes: charlotte russe)

Now, all was well, and I was on my way to work in my "Hawaiian shirt," when I noticed my car was making stranger sounds than usual (but didn't think TOO much of it because it always makes pretty strange sounds). I pulled off in what I recently decided would be my new photo location (you like?) and noticed that my tire was in fact smoking like a BBQ on Memorial Day Weekend (this one! any plans?). I freaked out just a little (I have a phobia of smoke and cars because of that one time K and I burned my parents' car to a crisp at Cape Cod) and called K to rescue me. It didn't even cross my mind that I had a spare tire in my trunk (things like this never cross my mind in a crisis), which I absolutely could have put on myself, but K drove over and helped me out anyway. I decided I should probably have an extra pair of tire-changing shoes in my car for emergencies, since crouching down in five-inch heels is a bit of a challenge.

Anyway, boo. I'm pretty pissed off, especially since I just bought these tires a couple of weeks ago. Also, I have no idea what happened. Apparently my tire was flat outside my apartment this morning (says my supervisor, who drove by it), so someone either slashed it or I got a flat somehow driving home last night and didn't notice. Either way = lame.

Also, I didn't post yesterday because K didn't get in when he was supposed to on Wednesday night and I had to pick him up yesterday morning. This normally wouldn't deter me from blogging, but I decided to treat myself to Starbucks on the way to the airport and after taking one tiny sip of my steaming chai latte, proceeded to spill the boiling beverage all over myself while driving. Dangerous. I tried to lift myself away from the spill (all the while shrieking and swerving) and ended up getting it all over the backs of my legs and creating the distinct impression that I had urinated all over myself. Anyway, I am so glad it's Friday and that K is home and that I didn't have to go to the hospital for third-degree burns. Still not so glad about that tire situation, however.

Hope your days have been better than mine! Don't forget to enter my Shabby Apple giveaway this week! :)