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. 

Blog time-out

(Unfinished mural of Lincoln-Douglas debate, Ottawa IL, 2007)

Having a bit of a rough week. Will return more "sketched in" soon! ;-D

Hope you all are well and staying warm.

My (not so) secret friends

Hello, strangers! Found a new place to take indoors photos for the winter months -- Hubby finally cleaned out the basement enough that there is some blank spaces of wall for me to use. So here I am!

The top is one of my new Lane Bryant purchases, one I got with my sister on my Christmas trip. We both had a good time shopping together, and I am sure she will pleased to see that I did actually buy something for myself too (I was a good Santa to her there, LOL). It's a snakeprint in grey and black, sorry I didn't get a closer shot. I added my beloved short-sleeved LOFT sweater to it, just to add a minor layer, a pair of medium-faded Old Navy Dreamer jeans, and my silver Privos sneakers.

Perfect outfit for bumming around on the weekend, I thought. Not too lazy, not too casual.

Monday, I went to work.



The key top is from Gwynnie Bee. I wasn't sure if I would like a peplum tunic top on me, but it turned out to be awesome. I am keeping it for a second wearing, maybe for a casual look this weekend. The pants are Gap modern bootcuts, and the shoes are my new Clarks booties.



So, um, have I ever told you guys that I own mannequins? I can't remember if this ever came up before.

As long as I am telling you about them, I should tell you that I own two.


(When you are a size 20, it is never a good idea to stand next to a size 0. Just sayin'.)

I got them from Forth & Towne years ago. As we were closing the store down, my boss asked me to bring my camera and get photos of everyone. I did get some incredible photos of everyone, but I also became obsessed with taking photos of the displays and mannequins as they piled up, and the store itself. It was a gorgeous, elegant store.











We sold bubble necklaces years before J Crew. :)



As a photo subject, I could not resist the mannequins.








"Thanks for coming. I've called this meeting to plan our escape..."



Or the empty space. Seriously, it was a stunningly beautiful store.







Each dressing room was uniquely decorated, with a vanity and stool.





Everyone had fun with mannequins. In the end I had to buy a couple of my own. $20 each, what a deal!



I put some clothes on her once I got home. The sitting one stayed in the backseat of my car for years, causing much mayhem and laughter as drivers passed me on the roads. :)



But in the end, they have been relegated to my basement. I've purged lots of things, but I can't get rid of them. They hold such fond memories for me of a special time in my life, working with really lovely people in a gorgeous place. That's where I met Shopping Friend, for goodness' sake -- and I'm standing up in her wedding in a few months. The mannequins will always remind me of her too, and everyone else from Forth & Towne.



I miss you guys!

I think I might need to move the mannequins around in the basement so they can be in more pictures. Hubby moved the standing one over by his new workbench, and dressed her in his fishing straw hat and his high school tennis shirt, and ---



-- hey, she's not wearing any pants!

;-D

Photo Spam

I take a LOT of photos -- not just of my outfits and food, but things that amuse me, or that I find pretty, or just something I want to capture in the moment. Before LFD, I had a photography blog called Kudzuplanet, where for several years I posted a picture of the day. That is defunct now, but I still find myself with a backlog of photos that I want to share, and sometimes I have neither the time nor the inclination to incorporate them prettily in a post. So one of my new irregular features -- as a way to keep me on a regular posting schedule will a Photo Spam, of all the shots I want to share but ran out of time in other posts to do so.



The logo on the hotpads and apron from my mother-in-law. Ha!



Barbie for President!



My dad was very excited to see these in his Christmas stocking. Baffling, isn't it?



My nephew let me put bows on him. We're now texting buddies.



I really love my mom's tree. All the white and silver ornaments are so pretty.



I loved the way Hubby wore browns and maroons together.



Some shots of downtown Middletown while we were visiting Connecticut.







The inn we stayed at was so pretty.





A sign on the employee break room door at Best Buy.  I think it is my new motto.



Teehee.



What I wore on NYE. The new jacket is a Christmas gift from my mom. Love it.





I love wine, too. ;-D