No foolin'

We are outside again! Finally warming up enough to shoot in natural light, hurray. So, you know, enjoy the shots of our electric meter. :)



The jacket was a Gwynnie Bee surprise; I have over 40 items in my virtual closet so I never know what they are going to send me. This python print faux-suede number was a great transition piece for spring, light and fun and fitted. I added a dark green LOFT tee, a multi-metallic circle necklace, and my usual Gap modern bootcuts.

The snow was nearly melted on the patio, which made my husband's latest folly that much more visible. He had purchased a new kind of birdseed for the feeder (flamingos aren't the only birds who hang out on our patio) and discovered, to his dismay, that the birds did not like it. Specifically, they did not like the black seeds that comprised 70% of the mix.

The birds hated the black seed so much they actually spit it out and separated it from the rest of the seed that they did eat. They left PILES of it underneath the feeder.

I am not exaggerating.





So now he has to figure out how to clean it all up when the last of the snow is gone. In the meantime, even the flamingos are staying away from the feeder. Hee!



ANYWAY.

This was my favorite outfit of last week. So much so, I wore it twice. :)



First off, it has my new Longchamp nylon purse, which I am LOVING. The size, weight, durability, and style are exactly what I was looking for in a spring purse, and best of all the sensible look of it is fitting well in my revamped-and-returned "Yalie" look, as Jessie called it.

The real appeal of this outfit, to me, is the simplicity. I was meeting Shopping Friend for wedding-shoe shopping, and I could not find an outfit that was working; I kept trying all these color combinations, and either the shirt showed off too much muffin top, or the sweater was too heavy, or I just looked awful. Then I looked at the combinations I was struggling with, and it occurred to me that I was making  it too hard; my perfect tee, in black, would work just fine. As soon as I put it on and saw how it made the striped sweater pop all on its own, it occurred to me that I had never worn this sweater with a neutral top before. Never. I have no idea what I was waiting for!

The black top gave all the other other elements of the outfit a chance to really shine, in every way.

My hair looked blonder against it.



The cozy ribbed texture of the sweater stood out more.



My beloved embellished animal print Sam Edelman flats got a chance to roar.



My pretty circle pendant from LOFT Outlet shone the most against the neutral background.



Sadly, this was the last wearing of this necklace; it wasn't well-made (no surprise since it was an outlet piece), and the clasp linking the circles to the chain finally gave up the ghost the next day. So it's been "edited" (i.e. thrown away), but it will be fondly remembered!

No jokes or pranks here, but I hope you guys have a good April Fools Day. I always dread this day because it turns out I am super-gullible. Maybe this year I should keep count how many pranks I fall for...

Emily and me

This set of photos just made me laugh.

Me: Em. we're going to be on the internet.
Emily: Mew.



I play with my hair, Emily notices the camera.



I button my jacket between shots, Emily watches me, befuddled.



We both get one good pose in. 



Shrunken piped blazer from Gap, heather grey drape neck top from Target, grey pinstripe modern bootcuts from Gap, black Naturalizer booties.

Blogging Time-Out: Over!

Hello! I am back.

Thank you for your patience and your sweet notes checking in on me. When I started my hiatus I only expected to be gone a week or so, but then other things in my life start piling up and making everything that much worse, and I just couldn't think of anything to say on Ye Olde Blogge, so I stayed away until things started to improve again.

But this has pretty much been my mood all month.



Shamelessly stolen from my buddy Helen, who is going through her own winter doldrum period. (Hang in there, sweetie!) In a weird way, this cartoon helped nudged me out of my mood; I'd been procrastinating, just pushing things off for "just one day" while I was hanging in limbo waiting for resolution for various things, and every day feeling guiltier for not posting and getting back in the swing of it. The cartoon was like a period at the end of a run-on sentence; a hard-stop declaration that I was at the end and I just did not want to run on anymore. It allowed me to forgive myself, weirdly enough, and then to just take a week and lie facedown on the floor, then get going again in a forward direction.

So here I am, moving forward.

How shall I do that? By showing you photos of my time away! ;-D

I have been taking tons of photos, and am even back in the rhythm of daily outfit photos; I convinced Hubby to move some things in his office so I could get my old corner area back for shooting, and there I have been taking a 4-set every day.



I liked the pairing of the hunter green tee and the turquoise necklace. The contrast complemented each other well.

The timing of moving the tripod upstairs could not have been better, by the way, since we had major seepage in the basement for about a week. The condo guys finally came yesterday to cut into the drywall and find the cracks in the foundation, which unfortunately they could not find. So we have moved the carpet and the drywall aside and are waiting for our most recent snowfall to melt so they can find the leak. Oh joy!



We had to rip out half the padding in the room with the last seepage a few years ago, and the carpet will have to be replaced once the leak is found. We got it all dry without any mold, but the water stains are just too big and ugly to ignore. And carpet is a must; look at that God-awful linoleum underneath!



They covered up the bottom hole with the drywall pieces, and are keeping it secure with a piece of Hubby's fishing stuff; apparently it's very easy for a little nosy cat (like our own curious George) to crawl in there and get stuck behind the walls somewhere. Yikes!

But it hasn't all been gloom and destruction! I've had tons of time with my friends, wandering through Ikea with Babyfriend and then last weekend playing with Legos with her and having our minifigs talk to each other for about a half-hour (heh). Plus hanging out with Babyfriend's Mom and with Jessie, also always highlights of those visits. My buddy Phillip left the company so we had a nice dinner out to celebrate that. Shopping Friend is getting married in May so we did a foursome dinner this week to talk over shower stuff and just re-connect and have some laughs. AND I had dinner with my local YouLookFab buddies Laura and Marianna where we chatted about blogging and writing and shopping and all the fun stuff of life. :)






YouLookFab forever!







Man, I miss that guy. He is even more of a ham than I am!
(From an earlier night out.)



Speaking of someone who makes me laugh, Hubby has turned to money laundering. ("Money dyeing" might be the better term.)





But his black jeans are looking good, so that's all that matters in the end. Hee!

I have more posts to come. And yes, Lorena, I have my edits from January. :)

Yay! It feels good to be back. 

An Apple A Day

Or in our case, more than one Apple.



Twenty-two Apples.

These are all the Apple products we had in our house. We started, just a few years ago, with these two:



My husband fell for Steve Jobs' products first; I had to be prodded into each upgrade. Of course, that has ended up meaning that my husband has had the original iPod since the beginning, and I worked my way through the Shuffle, Nano and finally the iTouch.



The Nano is used still as part of our alarm clock in the bedroom, and the iTouch is attached to my stereo in my car. We had to dig the Shuffle out of a box in the office for the photo shoot. :)

After the music products, we moved onto iPhones.



Between the two of us, we have had them all. I don't know why Hubby never re-sold them when we upgraded, but it makes for an impressive collection!

Of course, since we are both in the IT industry, we have computers. Lots and lots of computers.

2 iMacs (one from the candy-colored era and one giant flatscreen from the modern era)






2 iPads. Those are mostly his; he upgraded and gave me the old one, but I don't use it very much. I like having a keyboard and a mouse when I am on a computer. :)

That little black item on the right is an AppleTV. We really love that; Apple has a lot of closed-captioned movies in their library now, so it's easy to rent and watch them again.

4 Macbooks (two are for Hubby's work)



The last item we have is a Mac Mini. It has mostly been for storage. I have a lot of photos, after all. :)



I have to admit, I did not realize we had this many until we put it all together. It's kind of embarrassing, but definitely funny. We're such nerds!

The only accessory you need today

I just said, "Obamney is hanging on in Florida."

That's probably not right, is it? ;-D

Hope you all voted. It's our civic duty!

...back to being glued to the TV...

#16

Sixteen years ago, this is where I was.



Most of the day is a blur now, but I remember laughter. My husband made me laugh the whole day. When I got up to the altar, both of us were shaking a little. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little change purse, decorated in fake tiger fur. "Rawr", he whispered, an inside joke that made laugh and instantly relax. Then, after, he showed me his socks. Look at his socks! He's a funny guy.

That's why this was our wedding song. Because we both have wicked senses of humor, and so does Lyle Lovett.



Beautiful, sweet melody, winding all around these lyrics.

She hates my mama
She hates my daddy too
She loves to tell me
She hates the things I do
She loves to lie beside me
Almost every night
She's no lady she's my wife

The preacher asked her
And she said I do
The preacher asked me
And she said yes he does too
And the preacher said
I pronounce you 99 to life
Son she's no lady she's your wife

And I can't remember
How I met her
Seems like she's always just been hanging here off my right arm
And I can't remember
How I ever
Thought that I just couldn't live without a woman's charm

And even though
She loves the smell of French perfume
And even though
She walks around in high-heel shoes
All I know
Is I'm the one who pays her price
Man she's no lady she's my wife

And I can't remember
How I met her
Seems like she's always just been hanging here off my right arm
And I can't remember
How I ever
Thought that I just couldn't live without a woman's charm

Yea she hates my mama
She hates my daddy too
She loves to tell me
She hates the things I do
She loves to lie beside me
Almost every night
She's no lady she's my wife


Heehee. Funny Lyle, funny Husband.

Still my favorite series of photos from that day.








Happy Anniversary, honey. Again. Now let's go eat some grilled meatloaf. Again.

I bet you wish I worked in your office

I re-decorated my office today.



Yes, those are chairs shaped like high-heel shoes.



I brought them from home; unbelievably (or believably, if you know me like I think you do), they have been collecting dust in my basement the last few years. We bought them on a lark to decorate our bedroom, but they were too big for the space. They fit in this space just fine!

They're pretty comfortable too. Even Phillip agrees!



Actually, all the dudes in my office came in and sat in them, at least for a minute or two. You can't help trying them; they're so fun!



I'm only sorry it took me so long to clean them up and bring them in. They make me smile every time I look from my own, boring, regular chair.

Random photos: October 2012

Went to Nordstrom to see and touch the Rebecca Minkoff before I bought it, and I am glad I did. The one from Zappos was actually bigger than mine, clumsily so, and had different pockets, a top zipper, and gold chain hardware. Dislike! There was also an exact replica of my current purse but in the oxblood color I want, but the leather was much stiffer than mine, and felt all wrong. So the search will continue!

Meanwhile I unloaded the photos on my new iPhone that I've been taking for the last few weeks. Enjoy!


The band (complete with accordian and mullet hair) at a German restaurant we went to for Oktoberfest.


Tabletop shot. (And Phillip in the background!)


The placemat. Doesn't the guy look like Josh Grobin? It made me laugh.


Hubby bought a "squirrel-proof" bird feeder. Note the chipmunk happily sneaking into the cage and eating all the birdseed. Hee!


Just a typical Saturday at the DMV, 30 minutes before they were supposed to close. Thank God I only needed a plate sticker; my line had 3 people in it, compared to the 300+ waiting for their licenses.


Inspiration for an outfit, from Nordstrom. Love the two blues with the striped jacket!


More inspiration.


Hubby texted me this one; Emily and George figured out how to share the sunbeams and the chair one lazy afternoon.


Pumpkin display outside a grocery store. This was taken today!






My girlfriend agreed to let me find a ballerina costume for Babyfriend; all she wants to be this year is a "bah-ee-na"! The task proved nearly impossible, unless we wanted to dress a two-year-old as a slutty ballerina. Finally I found this. Not what I was hoping for (I wanted a traditional leotard, tutu and tights) but so cute I had to get it.

That's been my weekend. How was yours?