Color Project: Red

The Color Project: Red has officially begun!

I started two weeks ago with this Lane Bryant top under a Gwynnie Bee sweater. The red top is tons of fun, and an easy staple in the closet. No question it is staying.



Last week I wore a number of tops from the project.

First was a purple Old Navy collarless blouse. I've struggled to find outfits for this before; it's one that I have to work into the rotation consciously, not one I grab because I want to wear it, like the red LB above. Not sure this one is going to last the month.
(Worn with a B&W striped cotton cardigan from Lane Bryant, faded Old Navy Dreamers, pewter Privos, white camisole, and my Brighton silver pendant. Variations of this are definitely my weekend wear.)





This mauve LOFT tee is the twin of the white one I dithered over during the White Project. Funny how a different color makes all the difference; I love the softness and tone of this one. It will be staying in the closet, for sure.
(Worn with a black Target cocoon cardigan, same faded Dreamers, and multi-stone long necklace from LOFT Outlet. Barefoot because it was my work from home day. :))







I forgot to add this purple-and-grey abstract banded top from Old Navy to the original Red pile, but it is mostly purple so I am adding it in. Trying with a tone-on-tone look with a purple Babeau draped cardigan from Norstrom from a few seasons ago, black NYDJ stretch straight legs, and Clarks Artisan fauz-moto booties.





Close-up of the Brighton silver pendant, a Christmas gift from my mom. It's supposed to be a badge holder but it's much too pretty for that.



This last outfit was my favorite of the week. I got this red polka-dot drape neck blouse from Nordstrom this fall, and I've struggled with the right outfit for it. I think my search is over.





What makes it work is that both pieces have a black heathered quality to them, so there is an underlying commonality to the patterns that makes them work together. It made me happy to wear all day long.



5 down, 5 to go. I might get through this chapter of the project faster than the White round.

Hot Flash

Been wearing my hair up lately. Most days I try to wear it down, but at a certain point in the day the clip comes out and up it goes. Yesterday that point was before I even left the house.



The reason I have been wearing it up is that at the ripe old age of 44, I have started to have hot flashes. I'll be talking to my doctor about them at my annual physical this month, but in the meantime they are just a nuisance. My skull and nape are always the parts that get hot and sweaty when I overheat, so that's where the hot flash impacts too. Having thick hair doesn't help as it gets immediately soaked. Ugh.

Anyway. I have been purchasing a lot of clips and nice elastics. :)

Onto the outfit!



The post about Forth & Towne made me nostalgic so I opted for one of my few remaining sweaters from there, a sweet coral short-sleeved wrap. It's getting a little faded but I am not quite ready to edit it out. The coral still stands out, and I love the way it looks against my grey pintstriped Gap bootcuts. It's one of the few colors I have that blends nicely with them.





The necklace is another little-worn goodie, from a local jewelry store as they were going out of business. Three strands of grey pearls on brown knotted string -- it's an interesting mix of dressy and casual, you know?



Funny, Angie just had a post this morning about the benefits of outfit repetition, and this is definitely one I have repeated in the past. The colors work together nicely, and as I just noticed, on their own, I don't any of these individual pieces enough. It's only as this outfit that I am most satisfied with all of them. Hmm, that's something to ponder.

I also did a little more closet rearranging, moving some of my summer shirts that I had left in the closet down to a drawer, and bringing the winter layering tops from the drawer up to the hangers. In doing so, I realized I have a lot of layering tops of certain colors, like white, and they aren't getting enough wear.



I think the problem is I tend to select my outfit from the statement piece first, then build from there. So I pick my blue blazer then find the top and pants. Or I choose my red polka-dot blouse and select the right pants and blazer. That often means that some layering tops rarely get chosen at all.

So for the next week or so I am going to go by color; all of the white tops will get worn, and we shall see what combinations come from that. I suspect I may end up pulling out jackets and bottoms that also don't get as much rotation, like I did here with the coral sweater and grey pants.

Oooh, it's casual Friday. This should be fun!

Random December outfits

A few random outfits I have been wearing lately:



Grey on grey on grey on black. I am crazy about all the draped necklines around these days; this one is a heathered grey sleeveless one from Target that has worked well under many of my blazers. The drape at the waist is a problem, though. I put this grey mix together because I wanted to wear my grey pinstriped pants but there is something about the hue that makes it hard to fit with my more brightly-colored tops. So I went with neutrals instead. The jacket is a knit Alice + Olivia that I got during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale; for a while there I had my doubts it would get much wear but I've been putting an effort into finding the right use for it, and it's worked well. 



More neutrals of the navy and brown school.  The grandpa cardigan is a little too grandpa-y here, but I decided to give it some structure by tucking in my Gap navy-and-brown striped top and adding a brown belt. Now that I look at it, a stronger gold necklace would have worked better instead the delicate long one I wore.



Casual Friday with a mustard v-neck shirt from Nordstrom, my beloved striped Lands End blazer, the Gap trouser jeans, and rose gold Tahari flats from DSW.

We went to Detroit this weekend (photos coming tomorrow!) and I somehow only managed to get one outfit photo. Which is a bummer, because I did finally break down and bought some new clothes from Lane Bryant, all of which I wore -- and that went together perfectly -- all weekend. I was so excited about my weekend packing, and I have no visual evidence to show it off. Doh!



This was Friday night; we stayed at the MGM Grand casino, so we spent the night "in" and downstairs gambling and hanging out. The long cardigan and black top are new from Lane Bryant, the jeans are those Jag jeans that I am still on the fence about (they did not fare well by the end of the weekend, waaaaaay too stretched out) and my sparkly Vince Camute suede flats. I am in love with the weight, fabric and stripe size on that cardigan; it is going into heavy rotation this winter, I can tell you now. Probably going to wear it today!



The purse is from a consignment store from a couple of years ago; it's a faux Chanel that I paid about $15 for. I love the idea of it, but I have only used 2-3 times. This is the last one; the "leather" in the strap is completely shredding and left little red pieces everywhere. It's in the bag for donation now!



This is yesterday's back-to-work outfit: the top is from Gwynnie Bee, and I knew as soon as I saw it on their website I had to wear it with my cobalt blue blazer. On its own, I didn't really love the top; the knit was too static-y and too short for my preferences, but under the jacket? Perfect.



I am so enjoying my Gwynnie Bee experience, I am considering upping my subscription to 3-pieces out a a time. Hmm, maybe for the new year when the shopping itch starts up anew. Right now I think I am doing okay finding things to wear. :)

In lieu of Sunday Cooking

I am not home this weekend so no Sunday Cooking post. Instead here is a catchup on my outfits of last week. The last two days of the workweek started to see some favorite cardigans making a reappearance.



I bought the animal-stripe sleeveless top at Macys last spring while we were downtown for the weekend, and I have not worn it since. I have no idea why; it's very cute. On Wednesday, I dug it out of the bottom of my shirt drawer and paired it with the pewter BR lariat necklace and Bobeau teal drape sweater.



The outfit finished off with some Gap Real Skinnies and my Vince Camuto brogue cowboy boots. The skinnies are really too short for anything but being tucked into boots, alas.



Thursday was a return of the new Sejour drawstring purple sweater from Nordstrom. It is so perfect for this mild winter, and I just like it against white. I paired it with my navy pinstripe bootcut pants; my brown BOC clogs weren't my first choice of shoes, but the pants are too long for anything but a 4-inch heel and those were all I had. Gotta get those pants to the tailor!




Friday was all about bundling up; we had flurries all day. Luckily it only ended up being less than an inch of snow on the ground, but it was COLD.



This is an old H&M long grey sweater, so cozy on the coldest days. I paired it with a dark green LOFT layering top, black Gap bootcut pants, black Naturalizer booties, and an Old Navy necklace made of green/teal ombre beads. This one is the definition of "Dress Like a Normal Person"; I've owned most of this for two years, minimum, and have worn them all countless times.

Lastly, I also often "eat like a normal person". Here is how I packed my lunch on Friday.



See? It isn't always cute lunch boxes and Bentos. But it's still pretty much the same foods.



Squash soup (in the blue container), the last of the quiche, navel orange, crackers and cheese wedge. It was tasty!

Dressing like a Normal Person: weekend edition

Wow, you guys. Wow.

I did not expect such an outpouring of comments from my last post about the anonymous comment. To be very clear to my anonymous reader, I was not even slightly offended by your comment. I really appreciate you expressing your opinion because you inspired me to think about the content of what I have been posting, and you got me interested in what I am wearing again. I owe you a debt of gratitude. I also owe the same to everyone who chimed in; thank you for your encouragement, support, and some ideas of your own.

Anyway, I made a promise, and I am keeping it. Welcome to the Dress Like a Normal Person challenge. Not sure how long it will run, but since I haven't repeated an item yet, I suspect it will be a while longer. :)

Friday was Wear Red Day, as part of the Go Red for Women campaign, to promote awareness for women's cardiac health issues. Since I work in healthcare, of course my entire office was in red. Solidarity, sister!



This was my an INC ponte skirt from Macys, new this winter, with a much-loved LOFT short-sleeved black cardigan; it is brutally hot in my new office so I've been wearing lots of short-sleeved or light sweaters. The red came from my Gap layering long-sleeved tee, so I had to wear my leopard print infinity scarf since it goes so well with red. (I did wear my red trench too; it has been warm enough this winter to get away with it.) This is the last time you will see these grey patterned tights; I put a giant hole through the thigh about halfway through the day, so in the trash they went. But the Vince Camuto boots are an old favorite. How many other boots can you say have brogue detailing but are shaped like cowboy boots? Not many.

I fretted for quite some time trying to figure out the best way to button the sweater: just one, none at all, with a belt, no belt, etc. I rarely go all-buttons (and it bugged me that you could see all my lumps this way), but ultimately I liked the sleek look of it enough to get over the bumps. I just kept tugging it down most of the day so others couldn't see them. :)



Saturday I busted out a brand-new sweater I got on sale at Nordstrom this week. Love the sparkly thread in the purple, and I love the drape and feel of it. I wore my Gap Long and Lean jeans and my green suede Clark heeled booties. Another bonus of this mild winter: my suede shoes have gotten tons of wear!





Please excuse the wet hair; I have to confess I didn't get a picture done on Saturday so I got redressed in the same outfit on Sunday morning and recreated it. The things I do to keep my promises to you guys! LOL.

My real Sunday outfit was below. A re-wear of the Gap Long and Leans, this time with a Loft black layering tee and my gold Bobeau cascading cardigan and my black Pikilino heeled shoes. The necklace was a Christmas gift from my SIL and niece; it's a Betsey Johnson so it's a little gaudy, but it's grown on me. Now that I have figured out it looks best with gold and black outfits, even Hubby is starting to like it.






Hubby did laundry so I am ready for the week. As long as we don't have snow, I can keep taking photos outside. I cannot believe it is February!

Hump Day

Gosh, how did we get to Wednesday already? I'm so far behind in everything I need to do!!

Anyway, I promised I would wear something out of my sister's box of clothes every day this week, and I would photograph it. I am not sure I am going to make it to the end of the week; turns out none of the awesome skirts fit. The good news is they are all too big, but the bad news is that means I will never be able to wear them. They are so gorgeous, I'm pretty bummed about it. I might get one of them (a fabulous houndstooth) taken in, just to see it works.



This was Monday. One of two great Lane Bryant tunic sweaters; the other one was a strong green. I did wear it over the weekend, but unfortunately the color did not work on me as well as this peacock blue one did, so I passed it along to my friend Jessie. She looks AMAZING in green, so I know she will rock it.

I know a white top and black pants is a bit of a cop-out, but you know, when the sweater has enough character you don't need to overload with other stuff. I did wear my pretty gold circle necklace with it, to help emphasize the cowl neck.




Tuesday was a bit dressier than I have been lately, but it was all in service to the yellow Banana Republic sweater that made its way back to my closet in the box. It's a little snug right now, so I layered it under a Tria tweed jacket instead of over a button-down like I wanted to wear it. The sweater is short-sleeved and has cute ruching at the shoulders. Maybe you'll see it again later this winter or spring when it fits better.

The details of this aren't clear, but the pants are a navy pinstripe, and the jacket has great gold embellishment all along the hem. I added a couple of triple-strand gold necklaces to finish it off.





Today this will be the outfit, although I may mix it up with a different necklace or scarf. I cheated and wore it last Friday, but I like this sweater so much I am repeating it. This is a Forth & Towne oldie but goodie. Love the melon-y color, the faux-wrap look, and just the general weight and softness of the fabric. This is almost 5 years old, and it's still one of my favorites.

Sometimes I don't mind having gained the weight back because it lets me re-discover beloved pieces again. And believe me, I have plenty more in smaller sizes in the basement! :)

Lastly, I am enjoying all the food I made this weekend. I've had leftover soup a couple of days, and yesterday I brought in this:



There are cauliflower pizza crust/pancakes under the pulled pork, which worked out very well. They gave the pork a nice base but wasn't as carb-heavy as just bread. I added some of the roasted veggies with it. Yogurt, a mix of clementines and blackberries, some store-bought granola (Shelley, I had to concede defeat on making my own for now), some Special K crackers (which are so good!), and a couple of extra clementines filled me up for the day.

Aaaaaand now I am late for my day. Have a good one, all!

The last outfit photos of 2011

Wow, what great responses to yesterday's post about weight-loss tips! Cynthia, I love the link to that NYT article you sent. So much to think about!

I also loved that there were some common tips that work pretty much universally: track what you eat, track your progress (somehow), plan your meals, and have a positive attitude.

I would add just one more: enjoy what you eat. It's food, and well-prepared food is supposed to be enjoyable. Food is not just fuel; it affects all of our senses. So don't waste your calories/points/checkboxes on something that doesn't taste good. Conversely, not everything that tastes good is calorie-laden. Fresh oranges, homemade tomato sauce, a simmering bowl of seasoned bean soup, a slice of warm crusty whole-grain bread -- these are healthy, delicious, satisfying choices.

Anyway, onto the outfits!



This was Thursday before Christmas, one of my last days at work. We had our department holiday party after work that day, and this easily made the transition to party wear. Plus, I finally added some color to the dress!


Friday was my last day of work for the year. Hurray!



This transitioned into a travel outfit nicely -- all I did was lose the belt. :) I got the turquoise top from Lane Bryant this summer, but have yet to find the right outfit for it. This was close...maybe it will work better with my black ponte skirt? I definitely liked it with the long-sleeved top under it. A work in progress for 2012!

This one is for my sister: the last Bento of 2011.




Leftover Maui chicken from the Yardhouse, peeled clementines, and pomegranate yogurt with blackberries.  Yummy!

I hope you all have lovely New Year's. We'll be staying in that night, but I have plans for the day and the next day. Plus reflections and resolutions to make. Plan on seeing a few more posts this weekend from me! :)

Happy New Year!

In the Zone

I took this dress to Nordstrom to be altered after my last wearing. It's a fabulous dress, but it was a little too loose around the waist and chest. The tailor kept pulling it in, and I kept telling her I wanted to be able to fit a blouse under it. In the end, she won; when I picked it up a couple of weeks ago, it felt a little too tight, and zipping up under my arm when I was in a blouse was a struggle. I was disappointed, but I didn't want to take it back and have her fix it. I was embarrassed to admit I was too fat for how much she had taken it in.

So it hung in my closet for a bit while I stewed. I finally gave up on the idea of a button-down blouse under it. and wore it again with a layering tee instead. For NOW -- we shall see what the Foodstyle brings in the coming weeks; I may get a button-down under there yet!



I really do love the dress. Next time perhaps I will be brave enough to style it with some color; both times so far have been black-and-white variations. Not that there is anything wrong with that!



The bigger news is, as I have mentioned, the Foodstyle. I am In the Zone, in that moment when dieting/eating right is effortless, your motivation is high, and you're not frantically missing all the "good food" (i.e. junk food) you could be eating. It took me a long while to get here, so I am doing my best to keep myself here. I am eating very well, I'm tracking my foods nightly, I'm getting tons and tons of water in naturally -- my body is craving water so I'm refilling my water bottle at work all day long.

People, I am voluntarily and willingly taking my daily multivitamin. Alert the media!

I'm also not depriving myself; if I want a chocolate covered pretzel, I have one. But I only have one, and I don't let it derail the rest of my day. This change in attitude is the one that most represents being in the zone; when I'm not, that chocolate-covered pretzel is my gateway drug to a whole day of candy-snacking and usually culminates in Taco Bell for dinner. When I am in the zone, the pretzel is a savory treat that I enjoy to its fullest, and then I move on. Yesterday for example, our boss bought us pizza for lunch after our annual gift-wrapping party; I ate two squares of cheese pizza instead of the lunch I had brought, but my afternoon snack of two clementines came from my lunch box, and then I polished off the rest of the lunch (squash soup and a turkey sandwich) when I got home for dinner. It's amazing to realize that; to see in vivid clarity how much power my attitude has over what I eat and therefore what I weigh.

My goal during this month is to keep it going during the holidays, to not use the excuse of traveling or stress or parties to change my attitude. There are plenty of ways to still enjoy myself and yet get 5 fruits and veggies in every day.

Speaking of which:
1. I spotted this recipe for mixing grains with pomegranate seeds over on This Mama Cooks. Doesn't it look and sound amazing? I think I need to make that for next week, right alongside the holiday blossom cookies I will be making for the family Christmas party. Gotta keep that balance going!

2. Is it just me, or are clementines especially tasty right now? I prefer big, thick navel oranges, but they're too tough this early in the season. The clementines are right at their peak -- their more delicate skin tears away easily, and they're so flavorful and soft. Winter citrus is just one of my most favorite things to eat in the world; I still resent the winter I was on Medifast and couldn't have any oranges. Oranges never hurt anyone!

What's your favorite fruit to eat right now?

Snow Bunny

Not that we have anything more than a dusting of snow. I just think I bundled up like a (business casual, kinda dressy) snow bunny.



Cream heathered turtleneck sweater, Old Navy
Black ponte skirt, Macys
Cognac open-weave belt, Walmart
Black Assets tights, Target
mushroom Franco Sarto fitted boots, Zappos
mess of double-strand pearls, brown string necklace and tiger's-eye necklace from Shopping Friend

I don't know what is going on with my red face. I have had a terrible rash for days. I am switching face washes, from Aveeno Calming to Cetaphil, too see if that helps. Aveeno has done me well for years, but maybe it's not enough anymore. Dunno,

Another hibernating bear look. I swear, it is much cuter in person!



Cinnamon chunky knit sweater, Old Navy
White layering tee, Old Navy
Brown studded belt, Walmart
Lucite statement necklace, LOFT
Brown NYDJ ponte skinnies, Nordstrom
Brown suede BOC clogs, DSW

Then it was the weekend, and I cooked. Two soups were on the agenda, and both I made from scratch.

The first was a smoky black bean soup that I have been making for years from an old WW Core recipe. It's Hubby's favorite and was a personal request. But it's so easy I decided to challenge myself and made the beans from scratch too, instead of from a can. !! Really, it's very easy to do.

Start with a bag of beans.



Pour them onto a jelly-roll pan and pick through any discolored or wrinkled ones, and check for any pebbles. (I was going to not even mention the pebbles because it's so rare when I find one, then I DID find one in this bag. So there you go -- check for pebbles!)

Rinse the beans and put them in a pot with a lot of water. Like, a couple of inches above the beans at least. Bring to a boil, then skim off any foam from the top. Turn down to a simmer and add a tsp of kosher salt for every cup of beans. (I added that and some smoky flavoring to it. Dunno if it did any good.) Let actively simmer for 60-90 minutes, checking at the 30-minute mark and every 15 minutes after that. Add more water if necessary.

You will end up with almost twice as much cooked beans than raw, and they freeze easily. So make the whole bag, and then freeze it in 2-cup portions -- which is a can from the store. Easy as pie, and much less sodium! :) I think I did 4 cups raw and ended up with 8 cups cooked.



Once they had cooled (and it was late enough in the day that it was time for supper), I made them into soup, starting with sauteed onions, garlic and 2 chopped red peppers in a pot. Add the beans, some chopped bacon or Canadian bacon, add 1 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp of chipotle and stir 30 seconds until fragrant, add 4 cups chicken stock and bring to boil. Season with salt and more smoky seasoning if desired, then let actively simmer for about 30 minutes. Use the immersion blender to chop it up.

For me, I loved that butternut squash soup so much last week I made it again. But this time I did some hardcore roasting; I cut up into chunks 2 small butternut squash, 2 small onions, 2-3 carrots, a Yukon Gold potato, and tossed it all with olive oil, kosher salt and Northwoods seasoning. Then I cut off the top of a garlic clove and nestled it in the middle of the pan.





I baked it at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, just until everything was super-soft and just starting to brown. It took a lot of willpower not to inhale it all right then! But I squeezed the garlic out of the papery skin, and let it all cool for the afternoon.



For the soup, I followed the same recipe as last week; I even though there was onion and carrot in the roasted veggies, I still diced up a small onion, couple of celery stalks and some carrots as the base of the soup, and sauteed them in a pot with olive oil. I also pulled out as much of the onion as I could from the veggies and chopped those into smaller pieces. Once everything was softened, I added all the veggies and about 4-6 cups of chicken stock (low-sodium, I like to control the salt I use with just pinches of kosher salt). Bring to a boil, simmer for 20 minutes, then use the immersion blender to mix it all up.

The finished products.





I have to tell you, roasting all the vegetables together with seasoning was a brilliant addition to the squash recipe. I can't describe it well, but the soup tastes like "roasted", especially the sweet garlic depth. I am so glad I made practically a double-batch; I will be eating it like crazy this week. Hubby also loved the black bean soup, whew! He likes things with more heat than I do, and this had a lot of heat and smokiness.

I also have plans for a quiche with sun-dried tomatoes, leeks, and goat cheese, but I wasn't in the mood to make it yesterday so I will save it for later in the week. Hubby is off today, so he is making the long-awaited BBQ portabello mushroom quesadillas we have been dying to try for dinner tonight for us.

Hunh, we sure do eat well on the Foodstyle! Probably better than when we are wimping out and ordering pizza. :)