in which it's cold as ice

I bought this dress with summer in mind. In the dead of winter, summer sounds so nice: sherbet-chevron prints on terrycloth rompers, twist creemee cones with rainbow sprinkles, bright-blue skies and rosy-red sunburned cheeks, fireworks and cold beer, lake swimming and sun-warmed sand, multicolored candy at a drive-in movie... these are the things that have been on my mind, these past few frigid days...

(dress: plato's closet; sweater: thrifted; hat: h&m; shoes: seychelles)

Art Club was lovely last night, but I was so worn out by the end of the day I didn't have much energy. I really need to figure out my sleep schedule and stick with it, even on the weekends (sleeping until noon on Sunday really threw me off, I think). Anyway, it is always nice to get together with those gals :)

I'm itching to go on a trip. Someplace like this, please:

No, seriously. I want to go to Bora Bora.

in which i miss the weekend (and warm weather)

Hooooooooly smokes. I am amazed that I am still alive. I was only outside long enough to take about five pictures, and I thought my hands were going to fall off.

(dress/belt/sweatervest: thrifted; hat/tights: gift; boots: seychelles)

This weekend it was crazy cold. Today it is crazy cold. Friday there was a blizzard and I went straight home (skipped the gym--fail) to huddle under a blanket and watch Friday Night Lights with K. Saturday we were going to go bowling but we slept pretty late, so K made cinnamon rolls and we watched more Friday Night Lights. We decided to go see Sherlock Holmes that night, but after cleaning the snow and ice off of my car we realized that somehow it had filled with exhaust (I was sitting inside waiting for it to warm up, and suddenly felt like I was going to pass out--but my door was frozen shut, so that was even more terrifying). We cleaned off K's car and took that instead, but I was annoyed. The movie was good, and we continued our tradition of getting Moe's when it was over (buy one, get one 1/2 off!). The next morning we got up even later (it's hard to throw off those covers when it's this cold--even in a relatively warm, albeit drafty, apartment). I made Swedish pancakes, and we decided to go bowling that afternoon instead. When we started up my car it didn't fill up with exhaust, but the heat suddenly didn't work. So basically we said screw it, walked to the market for some groceries, and stayed in for the rest of the day. I won't lie, it was pretty relaxing. I'm finding it harder and harder to get going on Monday morning when weekends look like this (notice all of the ice on our window):

Swedish Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 c flour

1 c milk

4 eggs

1/2 c warm water

pinch of salt

sprinkle of cinnamon

bananas

jam

maple syrup

Directions:

Mix flour, milk, eggs, water, salt and cinnamon to make batter. Melt butter in pan and cook pancake until flippable, then flip and cook the other side. Spread jam on cooked pancake (I just do a strip down the middle), pile on the banana, roll up and smother with (real) maple syrup! This is one of my favorite quick-and-easy breakfasts :)

in which it's getting *cold* in here

Okay, this is like a Where's Waldo of fashion blogging--can you spot the ring?

(dress/scarf/belt: thrifted; tights: h&m; shoes: poetic licence; earrings: claire's; ring: gift)

If you said: is that the thing impersonating a brooch on your scarf, you're right! I feel clever. Can you also spot the frost on the ground? Yeah. It got frigid overnight. Finally feels like November!

Last night I went to the gym (I did it, guys!), and it felt amazing. I left work in a really sour mood--I had to stay late doing something miserable, and the whole day had been one of those pre-holiday disasters. Anyway, I ran on the treadmill for a while and--no lie--emerged a new woman. I was in such a good mood when I left! I always forget how great I feel when I actually get exercise (go figure). Now I just have to keep it up.

So, so, so, so, SO looking forward to the long weekend. One (and a half) more day(s)!

give me something that's not cold

So, what the hell happened here? It was springlike on Monday, then plummeted back to Arctic temps overnight. Yesterday morning I had to drop my car off for a long-overdue oil change and rear brake installation, which meant that I had to walk from the garage to my office. Holy Moses, it was cold. I started to feel very melodramatic, like I might actually curl up on the sidewalk and freeze to death without a fight. It didn't help that I saw both of my parents drive by without so much as a tap on the brakes (my mother made it up to me later by unexpectedly taking me to lunch). Anyway, today the subzero suffering continues--the biggest problem is the wind. Like I said, Holy Moses.

(shirt: goodwill; jumper: etsy; tights/socks: tjmaxx; shoes: seychelles; belt: bargain boutique; necklace: diy)

So (kind of ) funny story about this shirt: I found a secondhand version of this cute little powder-blue-peterpan-collar-polka-dot-and-ruffle blouse at Plato's Closet while laundering my clothes one day. It was a little bit too big, so I reluctantly put it back (I can handle a little too big for $2, but $7 is pushing it... I'm such a cheapskate). However, I did see another one on the racks and vowed to try it on the next time I visited PC (laundry was done, I was lazy). I never went back, but I kept daydreaming of this blouse and its perfection. Imagine my surprise when I found the same shirt at Goodwill a month later! Who is giving these shirts away?? I am amazed! It's completely perfect in every way, except that the front could use a bit of an iron (the spaces between buttons have curled under a little). I temporarily solved that problem by layering it underneath this jumper, but I can't wait to style it up again and again when spring actually comes to call.

if a sheep jumped off a bridge

First: the good. I LOVE this sheep sweater. You saw it briefly in the photo shoot that K and I did last month, but the detail is the best part :) I found this little treasure at Goodwill, and despite my immediate attraction to its overwhelming awesomeness, I was reluctant to buy. It fit really strangely (I think it is probably meant for a child, or some lazy lady like me who refused to dry clean wool and shrunk it in the wash). The belt helps me look a little bit less than a sheep (round and fluffy white wool) and a little more like a girl :)

(sweater/belt: goodwill; dress/fur collar: h&m; boots: aldo)

Okay, now for the bad and the ugly: It. Is. Cold. Temperatures dropped below zero last night and as far as I could tell they did not climb above until after I suffered through this photoshoot. The joy of snow has been replaced by miserable, unforgiving frigidity. It was so mind-bogglingly freezing that in many of the outtakes I was quite literally cross-eyed with cold (that's the ugly--luckily you've been spared). There is nothing flattering about photographs taken in those conditions. Luckily, I fully intended to wear another sweater today, and didn't decide to dress entirely inappropriately (as I've been known to do). I had to drop my car off at the garage for a checkup this morning (she's been playing this really fun game with me lately where whenever I try to put gas in her she spits it back out and the pump shuts down [you can lead a car to a gas pump...]) and then I had to walk to work in these subzero temps. And I'll have to walk back to pick her up. It feels like the coldest day of my life, but I know that's an exaggeration--I have to toughen up! We're in for a long, cold one...

(what I saw on my walk to work)

ohmygodyouguys

I think I froze a couple years off my life this morning.

(dress: Marshall's; scarf: found; tights: layered black&white lace; boots: ALDO; crystal beads: Grammy Flood)

I don't even know how cold it is, but wow. It might not be so bad, but the wind! There was even a "wind chill" advisory on the morning weather, and holy smokes, I believe it. Winter in Vermont is truly not meant to support human life. I think I need to have my sanity checked...

There are a few nice things about living where I do, however. Our bedroom window overlooks a field, a forest, a river and a mountain range in an easterly direction, so I awake in the morning to light spilling over the hills (now that the days are getting longer and I'm not waking up in the blackest of night). The air is crystal clear (like cutting glass, in this cold), and as I approach the center of my frozen little town on the way to work I am aromatically aroused by the warm scent of woodsmoke mingling with roasting coffee. Waterbury is home to the exponentially expanding Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, an independent VT upstart coffee company that hit it big with their über-popular k-cups (which squirt out a single-serving of coffee). The best part? Not only does the roasting facility reside here (and pleasure my nose-buds daily), but the administrative headquarters are in my office building and the powers that be are generous enough to provide me (and eighty of my closest coworkers) with delicious, bottomless coffee five days a week !

Needless to say, when I was finally able to extricate myself from the frosty grip of the icy air and find refuge safely within the four walls of the workplace, I went immediately for the Keurig and poured myself a steaming hot cup of Wicked Winter Extra Bold.

And that, my friends, is how I survive.

As far as fashion goes, I am in love with this LBD. It has the perfect scoop neckline and flared skirt for ultimate figure-flattery. If I were to embark on any sort of Uniform Project of my own, this is the dress I would choose, hands down... there are so many millions of ways to style it, I kind of can't wait to try them out!

The scarf is kind of an accidental Christmas present from a Secret Santa. It was wrapped&unaddressed&kicking around my parents' house after the big 'Eve party... so now its mine!