January Edits and Purchases

*waves to Lorena* See, I did keep up with this during my hiatus!

We had our first real cold temperatures of the winter in January, so I reached into the sweater section of my closet to bundle up. Turns out there were several items in there that ended up in the edit bag.



Cream Gap long grandpa cardigan. The color always washed me out, and now it is too small in the shoulders to boot.



Blue marled extra-thick long open cardigan with tie, from Old Navy. The fit isn't right anymore, and it looked terrible as loungewear.



One of my very first boyfriend cardigans from LOFT. I still love the look, but this is too small in the shoulders. I couldn't completely let it go, so it went downstairs to my plastic clothes bin.



Grey cocoon cardigan from Gap. This was a fairly recent purchase from this fall, but I realize I should have gotten it a size up (I did so for the same sweater in black), and I already have a grey sweater that I wear much more often. A regretted purchase, for sure.



My sister and I traded these super-soft Target hoodies back and forth between us for years, but they are way too stretched out to keep anymore. This one was in white.




This one was in pale pink. It was so pill-y and worn out!



Last item that got kicked out was a grey LOFT tee. I actually loved this top; it sat well on me and the neckline was just right.




Too bad the grease stains ruined it.



January total: 7 pieces edited out.

On the purchase front, it was even less.



The first three came from an outlet mall trip with Jessie and Kate; I was far more restrained in my purchases than either of them were. (For once.)

Ooooh, that was the trip where one of my readers secretly spotted me in the LOFT store! Hello, Mary, hope you are still reading, and that you are doing well. :)

I also picked up a couple of pullover sweaters, as going through the sweater section of my closet revealed that I did not own a single one. Isn't that crazy? I love both of the ones I got and have been getting quite a bit of wear out of them.

Cozy, thick cotton. I especially love the tight knit of the weave; too many sweaters these days are too thin and baggy. This one is much better quality than that. On sale at Gap in purple, green or black stripe for $35.

This is also a chunky knit, but it is Old Navy and is a looser, cheaper weave. Which is okay, because I've owned and worn heavy woolen fisherman's knit sweaters before, and that is just too much. I only wanted a facsimile of that, which this delivers. :) Now on sale at Old Navy in a number of colors for $15.

So that was what I bought and got rid of in January. How did you do?

Fall Style: Blazers and pants

I may have mentioned in my Closet Purge post that I am wearing a lot of blazers and suit-like outfits these days; mostly it's due to having so many meetings these days at work, but blazers are also an easy cop-out on weekends to having to buy more fall jackets.

This is what I wore yesterday:



Pretty much everything is from Gap or Old Navy. The cobalt blazer is this one, the pants are the modern bootcuts, and the button-down is actually this military style jersey. I've decided I like this better than a stiffer cotton button-down, which tends to square my torso off in terrible ways.

But the parts of this outfit that make it interesting, IMO, are the necklace and the shoes. The necklace is what Gracie over at Fashion for Giants teasingly (and affectionately) calls the "blogger necklace", the colorful statement style that has definitely been making the rounds on many blogs. I picked two of them up as part of a Groopz deal that Kimberly from Fab Finds under $50 linked to a while back, and I've been wearing both all summer, and getting many real-life compliments on them. Even though the turquoise is a summer color, I used the inspiration from a Nordstrom display to wear it for fall too.




(Next time, I am going to try it with my trusty striped blazer.)

The other item of note are my flats. I have been thoroughly unimpressed with the shoes out for this fall; I've bought many and returned just about all of them, only keeping one pair of black studded flats so far. But these flats have been sitting in my closet for a few years now, an impulse purchase from the Ann Taylor Factory outlet, picked up for about $10. They've been mostly unworn because their style hasn't quite fit with my dress obsession or any casual looks on the weekends. But since hurting my back last week I've been wearing mostly flats with shorter-length pants, so I pulled them out and gave them a try. Good thing I didn't purge them; they look professional and cute with my new blazers look.



All in all, I thought this worked well for the season. I was actually one of the better dressed people at my meeting!



(Our new fish doormat says hello. A birthday gift from my parents to my fisherman-husband, heehee.)

Dress me, internet!

I swear, I get all my outfit ideas from the internet lately.

Last week, Angie over at YouLookFab posted about how to wear the Sassy Sweatshirt. Obviously, wearing one at work is a no-no for me at the Nun Factory, but it did spawn an idea for Saturday casual.



I picked up the sweatshirt at Old Navy this spring, but have mostly been wearing it as loungewear. We've finally reached a cool point in the summer, though, so I suspect this will be getting a workout, especially on vacation next week. I am ready!



Next it was Ally at Wardrobe Oxygen who provided the inspiration. She wore a fantastic striped blazer from Karen Kane with a hot pink cami, and I was head over heels. Look at how amazing she looks!

I will definitely be duplicating it during the week too, with my own striped blazer, but I also did a version over the weekend with my trusty White House Black Market striped cardigan.



This was the first rendition, when I took Hubby out to breakfast for his birthday on Sunday. But it was a little too warm for long pants and a long sweater, so I went back to my boyfriend jeans. Loved them with the chunky wedge sandals.






Thanks, ladies, for the continued inspiration!

Sunday Cooking: A random assortment of photos

The corn is coming into season. Repeat: the corn is coming into season. Let the joy spread across the land!

I did not buy from this vendor at my farmer's market; there is something about the abundance of varieties they have of everything that makes them seem sketchy. I never see a sign proclaiming which farm they are from, they sell too many vegetables that are out of season in the Midwest, and their signs are always perfect and printed. I much prefer to buy from the people across the aisle with the price of their cherries hand-written on a cardboard flap who only have the 3 main seasonal items available. Thank goodness, one of those items was their first crop of corn. I didn't want to have to buy from the generic/supermarket vendor, and I really, really wanted some corn.



The farmer's market also had some lovely hanging plants, which I did not buy but I should have; we already killed the plant Hubby bought on Memorial Day. Didn't even make it 6 weeks!





It was so dead the leaves crunched into powder when I touched it. Sorry, little plant! I think I might try that big white one next.

While we were there, we stopped at the local cigar store for Hubby. He loves going there because the inside is lush and full of leather chairs and big TVs, and on Sunday they don't charge sales tax on cigars or tobacco. As taxes are now 38% for tobacco, that's quite a sale. (I know, it's not good for him. I'm working on it.) But the cigar store has an actual cigar store Indian. You don't see those around much!





I was dressed for the casual, hot weather. Even wore my new coral New Balance walking shoes!


Target bird top from 2011, Lands End white knit shorts 2011, brown crossbody bag 2011, my beloved Ralph Lauren aviator sunglasses. Those have paid for themselves over the last 3 years; the first expensive sunglasses I ever bought, and the only ones I wear.

When we got home, it was time for some quick cooking. Like Helen said she was doing a couple of weeks ago, now that it is grilling season I am really trying to limit the Sunday Cooking so I am just prepping veggies, salads and marinades, and the rest we are grilling or eating cold. But I am also finding that lunch is a struggle without prepping something else, so this week I made a "breakfast casserole", also known as a frittata, egg dish, or crustless quiche. This particular version was inspired by this recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen, but you guys know I love my quiche and I love mixing up different flavors.



Even here I didn't stick completely with the recipe. I cooked off the bacon in the microwave, then put the mostly-cooked pieces in the skillet so they would crisp up and render a little bit of fat. Then I removed the bacon and tossed a large onion sliced into rings into the skillet to cook down until it was soft and browning. THEN I removed the onion, added the chopped kale and wilted that. Chopped the bacon, mixed all of those ingredients together and placed in the bottom of the Corningware dish. (Best kitchen purchase I ever made. So perfect for casseroles in the oven, for serving at the table, and because I also bought the glass and the rubber lids they store and stack in the fridge too. Hunh, except for the ramekins, I think I have this whole set.)

ANYWAY, then I mixed in the eggs and cheese (I did add all 10 eggs which is 4 more than I usually put in my quiche), and seasoned it with some Worchestershire and Northwoods seasoning from Penzeys.



When it came out of the oven, I was so enamored by the high puff. It looked like a loaf of bread! It did flatten a little but it stayed pretty puffy. I definitely had to cook it longer than 20-25 minutes recommended in the recipe. In my experience and my oven, breakfast casseroles always take 40 minutes. Otherwise they don't finish in the middle.




I also made another batch of blue-cheese coleslaw. With fatfree sour cream, a bag of shredded coleslaw, and a container of blue cheese, it is super-easy and pretty healthy to make. Way better than anything you would buy at the deli counter! I season it with a couple of shakes of apple cider vinegar, kosher salt and pepper, celery seed and some Wall of Flavor, but the blue cheese really does all the work to give it such a deep, cool taste. Make it the day before you serve so the cabbage has time to soften and soak up the dressing.



And that was all I needed to feed myself lunch for a few days!



Bonus: a couple of outfit photos from Monday and Tuesday!

Phillip took Monday's photo in my office.



The new Gap white pants (which are completely gone from the website, alas. They stretch out a lot, I should have gotten a size smaller), my turquoise Clarks sandals from last year, a new hot-pink cami from Lane Bryant and a cute pink-and-turquoise print Target top. Which you may never see again since I ripped a hole in the front, DAMMIT.

On Tuesday, Hubby was home so he took the photo while I was rushing out the door.



Purple Old Navy blouse worn open, new white Target sleeveless tee, silver circle pendant necklace from Loft Outlet, black Gap pants and olive Clark sandals.

Lesson learned from both of these photos: never ask a man to take your outfit photos. Both lowered the camera to unflattering angles, Hubby chopped off the top of my head, and neither told me to unwrinkle myself so I and my clothes looked their best. Men!!

Next up: grilling on the 4th of July!

The Glamorous Life

Yeah, that's my electric meter in the shot. I have now revealed the secret I've been cropping out for months: the space where I take my photos is right between my patio door, the meter reader, and our grill.

Don't let anyone ever fool you into believing fashion bloggers all lead glamorous lives. ;-D

Just getting a "good enough" photo can be troublesome some days. I have a custom timer set on my camera, so I shoot 4 pictures with 2-seconds between each shot, and I have 10 seconds from when I hit the button to get into position before it starts.

So if I take two sets in a couple of minutes, this is what I get.



From there I pick the best one or two; selection is swift and brutal. Look fat, bad pose, look fat, dorky smile, lead arms, blurry, bad hair, look fat, oooh I can work with that and that. I then crop and enhance in iPhoto. If it needs anything more than that, I don't bother.

Cropping helps a lot, most importantly by bringing me and my outfit front and center into the shot. After all, that's why you're here, isn't it?



Day 2 of chunky knits and unexpected neutral combinations. I've learned the hard way that chunky knits really only work on me when they are short-sleeved; anything else and I start to resemble a hibernating bear. :) The pants are a new pair of Gap straight legs -- I loved them so much in black I got them in graphite grey too. The knit is also new from Old Navy; the pumpkin spice color isn't for everyone, but for me it was irresistible! I liked the two together, so the rest of the outfit was just to serve that combination: dusty brown ON layering top, my trusty brown suede BOC heeled clogs, brown studded belt from Walmart (I know!). The necklace is one I bought from my sister from Lia Sophia last year, but I hadn't been able to find the right outfit for it until now. Phew!

You may have noticed I have a lot of new stuff from Gap and Old Navy; I did well during their Black Friday sale. Even better, it was all online; no lines, no fuss, no early-morning insanity. Best kind of Black Friday there is!

Okay, all caught up from last week. It took a bit to get back into the swing of daily photos, but I think I am back!

Emily missed you guys too. She was contemplating making a break for it...if only her head was smaller. :)

Long weekend

I worked a half-day at home on Friday, and took a much-needed afternoon off. So sartorially, it was a long weekend, 'cause you know I wore bum-around jeans at home working!



These are the Dreamer Old Navy bootcut jeans; I actually like them better in the long version, but I only have those in faded wash and they were in, well, the wash. :) So I added flats and went with the short, smooshed look. The maroon cardigan is last years from Kohls, the top is a new cream diagonal striped from LOFT, the necklace is a gold knotted stretch from Nordstrom, the purse is also from Nordstrom, and the flats are my beloved Sam Edelmann embellished animal prints.



It was a gorgeous day, sunny and perfectly crispy fall. Since it was later in the morning, I crept out off my patio and snapped a couple of shots in the area behind my house. Our neighbors have cute Halloween decorations out. We have our flamingos. LOL!



I changed before I went out to dinner with my friend Laura, but I forgot to get a picture of that. Which is fine, because I could not hold a candle to her chic-ness. LOVE your new red hair, Laura! She had a great grey cabled cowlneck tunic with grey heathered tights and the best piping-edged boots. We never take pictures when we got out, but seriously, we should.

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On Saturday I needed an outfit that would take me from morning grocery shopping to afternoon babysitting to an night of dinner downtown celebrating a friend's birthday. I think I got one fit the bill.





You know how earlier this week I was all about covering up my dupa with boyfriend cardigans, or talking about wearing outfits in proportions. Sometimes you just gotta channel a little Shakira, cause in this one, my hips don't lie, and I don't care. These are Gap Long and Lean jeans, and they are great for outfits when I want to show off alllllllll my legs, hips and thighs and all. They only work in the tall version with heels (my super-awesome olive green Clarks Vista Vermonts, which you may have noticed in many weekend outfits lately), but they work in a way my other jeans don't.

The jacket is a cotton olive cropped from Gap from last year; it's pretty casual but every once in a while works perfectly. The black long-sleeved layering top is new from LOFT (I scooped up a bunch on sale with a coupon and the last of my LOFT points this week), and the scarf is a great mix of navy, baby blue and olive. With the glasses it kind of looks a little "matchy-matchy" but I think the color combo is so unusual it works.




+++++++

Hubby agreed to take my photo on Sunday. He's getting better about not making me a dot on the horizon; I barely had to crop this one!



Another wearing of the Old Navy Dreamers, this time with a new teal LOFT layering top, an older Kohls cropped black sweater with dolman sleeves tied with a black ribbon. The shoes are my Ann Taylor Outlet tweed flats. Functional, and cozy.

This afternoon has been what I am beginning to call Soup Sunday. This week I made another batch of my Babchi's spaghetti sauce; I zipped through the first one mostly due to waste. Fresh tomato sauce goes bad in the fridge after a week (sob!), and I had frozen the rest in too big a container so I had to use it all at once. This time I am following Corporette's suggestions for freezing foods, and storing it in flat pint bags. (A pint of sauce is usually good for one meal.)

The other soup in process is Broccoli Chowder, one of my favorite meals. I did a double-batch in hopes of bringing it into work tomorrow, but I'm not sure I like how it came out. Eating a bowl now, and letting the pot simmer for a bit to cook down. Hope it fixes itself so I can take it in!

I can feel my foodstyle fighting its way through the haze of Halloween candy and work stress; I did a big round of grocery shopping this weekend, and have been busily stockpiling recipe ideas for quick dinners, like these Barbecue Portobello Quesadillas. YUM.

 And Helen, I bought the Cooking Light edition for Thanksgiving ideas; I am still mulling over more veggie side dishes and I would love a new, lighter potato idea, so any ideas are welcome!

Hope you all had lovely weekends, and those of you in the Northwest, hope the snow melts fast and you didn't lose power. First time there has been a storm like that since the Civil War. I can't even imagine!