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!

Merry Merry and all that jazz

Lunch/Snacks on Tuesday:



The Great Gift Basket onslaught has begun. We got a couple of them from vendors this week, one of which was a Trader Joe's basket. Candy Cane Jo-Jo's, I cannot resist you. So I am doubling-down on bringing in lunch as much as possible this week, and making sure on the few nights we are home we are eating from the fridge, not from the delivery boy. So far, so good -- we had a potluck lunch yesterday, and I brought baked (whole wheat) ziti, and everyone else brought salad, veggies, fruit salad...and chocolate cake. But the ratio of healthy to junky was much higher than usual potlucks, so maybe I'm starting to rub off on them!

I only got a quick shot in the mirror in the morning of my outfit. Not sure if it really worked; there is something funky about the proportions of that black chunky knit Kohls sweater on top. I think it's too short for my body, because it tends to remind me of a superhero cape when I wear it. Hmm, it might be time to retire it. It's starting to pill, anyway...



This was the baked pasta I brought. I felt so bad; I mixed together spinach and homemade tomato sauce together with some chopped chicken sausage for the pasta, but as soon as I mixed in the low-fat ricotta cheese the whole thing went from an appealing red and green to a brown goop. Sigh. But it came out pretty well; everyone had some at work, and Hubby polished off the last of it when I brought it home.



Wednesday was a good outfit day.



Nordstrom Babeau teal cardigan, LOFT beaded necklace, Gap polka-dot blouse, Nordstrom patent skinny belt, INC ponte skirt from Macys, Assets tights from Target, and my beloved Vince Camuto boots from Nordstrom. The outfit was completely based on the boots; they are my "flat" boots, so are ideal for this period while my back is healing.





Self-portrait!

Don't know if I'll be able to post any other entries before we leave for Christmas, so I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a lovely weekend, and peace to all.

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. :)

Hey, this posting thing still works!

Boots, meet the internet.

Internet, meet my boots.



Laura and Angie recommended these a couple of weeks ago on YLF, and I snapped up a pair in mushroom. Like I said at the time, a stretch boot is the best look for me, and I was interested in getting a new pair this year.

But once I got them, I hesitated.

They were really snug at the calf, almost too snug. And I didn't have time to email Laura to ask if they stretched. :) I knew from experience they probably did, but still...I dithered. I had ordered a second different style at the same time, and those immediately went back: too high in the arch. These felt almost too high too, which added to the uncertainty.

So I utilized my 3-outfit method for determining if I am keeping an item; I tried on 3 different outfits to judge. This was the second, and it was a winner. Once I put this on together, any doubts I had about the boots vanished.




My trusty H&M long chunky-knit cardigan provides the base -- everything else is new. The Old Navy blouse, a long-needed ponte black skirt from Macys, new Assets patterned grey tights from Target, and my new favorite long silver-and-gold mesh necklace from LOFT. I felt very sleek and chic in this; lot of neutrals but not all-black.

The platform is amazing; it keeps them in the 3-inch range for my arch even though they're actually taller. All my worry was for nothing; turns out I love this best of all! I love wearing platforms in the summer in the form of wedges; I didn't realize how fun a heel could be as a platform too!

The hair will remain overgrown for the next couple of posts while I catch up on last week's outfits; I finally got it cut and colored on Saturday. Whew!

Thursday: Where are Things From

Lorena at Lorena's Everyday Wear has been doing a fascinating experiment all week, posting where all the products she wears are made. Since most of my outfit photos this week have come out so terrible -- and because she has been not-so-subtly prompting me to do this, I thought I would give it a go!



The Target Merona skirt and AT chiffon layered top are both made in Vietnam. The Aquatalia boots are made in Italy, as are the Oriblu microfishnet hose. (This is a theme later on too.) The melon Banana Republic cardigan was made in China, which comes as no surprise because it is supposed to be mostly silk and yet is pilling and falling apart like there is no tomorrow.

The necklaces -- one from BR and the other from J Crew Outlet -- are too old for me to know where they were made. My engagement/anniversary earrings are from Tiffany, and the website doesn't say where they are made but that all their diamonds go through the Kimberley Process. My hearing aids are from Seimans, but I am not sure where they are made.



Of my hair products, all the Pureology products (shampoo, conditioner, root volumizer) are made in the USA, as was the Mario Tricoci mousse and the Pantene hairspray.



My makeup! Boy, I don't wear much. There was no label on the eyeshadow. But the Nars orgasm blush is made in Canada, the Laura Mercier concealer in the USA while her bronzer and eye pencil came from Italy. The Tarte mascara was from Italy too. (Who knew they were such a big manufacturer of makeup? I didn't!)

Interesting! I wish I had had time to research more of the products I own and use everyday -- like my Coach bags, my VW Beetle, etc -- but even just my clothes and makeup has been an eye-opener. Thanks, Lorena!

Wednesday, Thursday: SYC Challenge

Busy, busy week. Lousy, lousy photos. But!
1. A much-needed hair color appointment is scheduled for Friday night. This should remedy some of the photo issues.
2. I am really enjoying the SYC Challenge and plan on extending it for another week or longer. Turns out I have a lot of items that have been stuffed in the back of my closet waiting for their turn, and it's invigorating to find new ways to wear them.

Wednesday:


At first glance it doesn't look like anything unworn recently, but there are in fact two items. First the familiar ones: the top is a recent purchase from Kohls, only worn once this summer, the pants are my long grey Gap modern bootcuts, and the necklace is my gold mesh from BR. SYC Item #1 is this never-before-worn Caslon camisole; I have a bad habit of stocking up on many different color camis, but then I stick to a small group of them to wear. During my closet re-organization, I thinned out the herd to ones that truly fit and that I had a fighting chance of wearing. That brought this forest green one closer to the top of pile, and I liked it with the purple.



Item #2 is peeking out in the first photo: my multi-colored Nicole Blessed shoes from last winter. OMG!!



These shoes are ridiculously, ridiculously cute. Check out when I wore them here and here. It was too hot right now to wear trouser socks with them, but they look just as cute under pants as they used to. So glad I rotated my shoe collection to the fall set and got these back into play!

Thursday:


This sweater wasn't my first choice for my SYC Challenge item, but it was 85 degrees and anything longer than a cap sleeve was not going to be happening. I bought this no-name sweater on impulse at Marshalls in the spring, and I have yet to figure out how to wear it in a way I like. It's kind of a strange weight, a little heavy and it tends to drag down at my waist. Buttoning it has never worked but I went open-style this time.

Thursday I wanted to try it with all-neutrals, but I am not sure it worked. It might have to do with my hair currently mimicking the colors of my top, with my dark roots in the middle surrounded by a washed-out lighter tone. I will try it again in a week or so with refreshed hair color.

I did like the neutral of the rest of the outfit: the black is a ruffled-front knit from Ann Taylor Outlet, the skirt is a brown-olive from, oh yeah, Ann Taylor Outlet, the necklace was from Julia's blog ShopExileStyle, and the shoes are my Sam Edelman cheetah-embellished flats. Those have turned out to be my #1 best purchase from NAS; I don't know I wore before I had these!

And now I am late for work. Toodles!

Friday: Monochrome, LFD-style

When I was ordering this cardigan and top from the LOFT site, I was having trouble choosing the colors I wanted. I preferred the top in thie wild berry shade more than the other options, but none of the sweater colors I was looking at were going to go with it. Then it struck me: why not buy both in the same color, and wear it as a monochrome set?

Seriously, that had never occurred to me before! I always try to buy tops that will "go with" my cardigans, but I've never bought one that actually matched. Turns out, I really love the look! The floaty tie-top part was so cute I decided to forego a necklace so it didn't detract.



(Wish I had looked in the mirror before taking these; the top looked way cuter, more French-schoolgirl, tugged down so it lay flat all the way down. Oh well, next time!)

Say a fond farewell to this Merona Fit skirt. I've worn it literally to pieces this summer; the fabric is pilling terribly, and I ripped up the liner Spanx too much. But it served me well, and I wish Target was still making them so I could buy another one. A new black skirt hunt begins!

The shoes are a great black patent Anne Klein peeptoes that I got at DSW this summer. I got a reader email asking if yesterday's outfit contained hose, and the answer is yes -- as does today's outfit. I picked up several pairs of Oroblu nude fishnet stockings at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this summer, and it's finally time to break them out. Angie at YLF sings the high praises of these stockings, and I totally understand why; you're wearing stocking without them feeling like sausage casings, and they are so comfortable on days when it goes from cool to hot very quickly.



I thought the turquoise glasses were a nice unexpected touch.

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This weekend's project is already underway; I am sorting out all my clothes into the various sizes, putting things into storage in an organized fashion, and being honest about what fits and what needs to be put away for awhile. Expect a photo essay possibly on Sunday about it!

Friday: Aloha!

Picked up this super-cute top at Kohls the other day. The purple comes out a little blue in the shot, but it is a gorgeous rich purple. I paired it with a new olive/tan linen skirt I picked up on super-clearance at Ann Taylor Outlet and my Clark Laguna Reefs. Simple and perfect for the wretched heat.



So, so pretty.

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We are headed out for a lovely vacation with my sister's family in the mountains of New Hampshire. No internet access, but I will be taking lots of pictures. Since I have been enjoying wearing casual clothes so much this summer, I am going to do portrait shots each day to capture my looks. Maybe I'll even convince my sister to take a few of me -- and maybe with me too! :)

Tuesday, Wednesday: Slogging Through

I have no idea what is wrong with me lately, but I cannot take a good self-portrait right now to save my life! Maybe it's a sign I should shake things up a bit on the blog...hmmm. I will think about possibilities over the next couple of weeks. I will still blog, of course, but maybe just change around the way I take pictures or what I take for a little bit.

Tuesday:


It's so flipping hot that if I don't give my camera enough time to adjust to the mugginess after being in my air-conditioned house, the lens gets all steamed up. I didn't have that extra time on Tuesday, sorry!

This is the top I wore to the Brewers game over the weekend: a new Daisy Fuentes cotton top from Kohls. I really love the colors and shape of it; it's right on the border of casual and business-casual and suitable for both environments. Plus it is loose enough to hide my belly. :) I may swing by Kohls tonight and pick up another in a different color. It's paired with my black Merona skirt, white camisole, teal Aunt Jemima peeptoe flats, and my favorite gold mesh BR necklace.

Wednesday:


Too hot to wait for the camera to warm up again, so instead I took end-of-day photos in my kitchen. I even tried some new poses.



My, I am awfully boob-and-leg-alicious in that one! LOL!

But I love the matchy colors against my "blank canvas" black sundress. Coral Caslon camisole, coral ON cardigan, orange-and-yellow draped stone necklace from Julia's Shop Exile Style blog. Forgot to untangle the necklace before I did a closeup, but I loved all the colors together anyway!



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Couple of fashion links that I just adored:

1. Fabulous, FABULOUS article about Michelle Obama's fashion message she is sending to the women of the world. This in particular resonated with me:

But critics of Mrs. Obama fail to see the powerful message of self-possession that her appearance carries for millions of young women, especially African-American women. Style and the care you put into how you present yourself to the world are not just frivolous endeavors, they are powerful tools of communication. Mrs. Obama uses her own image and appearance to connect with other women and to teach them how to take care of themselves, how to improve their lives. That look is not expensive; it's priceless.

YES. That is why I admire her so much. Because she CARES about style, and she THINKS about it, and she USES it to relay all the messages she wants to, about self-respect and caring about your health and your body, and accepting who you are at any shape or size. I really love that she often wear outfits that accentuate her "flaws", that she wears clothes that clearly make her happy. She is absolutely wonderful to watch.

(P.S. This is a great blog of her daily fashion that I follow on Google Reader.)

2. Not sure if I posted this here before, but this is an AMAZING visual demonstration of finding jeans that work for your body, and how to avoid mom jeans and long butt. I have never been a jeans person, and my dupa is my worst feature so I am not a butt-person, so I have never really understood what good jeans are supposed to look like. I get it now!

Monday: Somebody misses you guys!

The downside to taking outdoor photos is that a certain someone can't stroll into the frame and visit his internet friends. But he managed a way on Monday!



George says hello!

The outfit itself was no great shakes: new grey swirled tee from Kohls (Lauren Conrad, really? really), black Merona skirt, slate grey open cardigan, too-tight black Alfani sandals. My ankles have been swollen lately, a combination of poor diet, not enough water, and 18 million miles of walking while the Nephew was in town.

I am also unsure about this cardigan; I've had it for while but there is something about the flat color of the blue that is off. It never quite works with anything on me, including the two neutrals in this outfit! Hmmm.



Big stretch! He's such a ham.

Outfit Catchup!

Wednesday was my last day in the office last week, and it was raining. I busted out my beloved plum patent rainboots!



George liked it!


Green butterfly graphic tee from Target, white camisole, black Merona Fit skirt, black short-sleeeved long cardigan from Ann Taylor Outlet. When I got home, I put on my favorite new distresed boyfriend jeans. Junky, but comfy!



The rest of the weekend has been spent in casual clothes. Man, I forget how much I like casual clothes until summer!

Thursday: my nephew and me on Segways downtown


More photos of our trip here.

Friday: A friend of mine had a camera while we were out charter fishing on Lake Michigan. Not the best photos, but gosh I sure do look happy!







Saturday: Spent the afternoon and evening at a Brewers game up in Milwaukee. Cool stadium; we'd never been there! Here I am posing with two of the sausages, Keilbasa and Chorizo. LOL!



What a great time we had. I am totally exhausted. Back to work Monday anyway!

Tuesday, Wednesday: In Love with my Bento

Tuesday:



Suity, for meetings. Zzzzz. (Wore one on Monday too but the pictures were tragic.)

Talbots turquoise jacket, white Martin + Osa collared top, black Merona skirt, new Sam Edelman embellished cheetah flats (OMG, I love these shoes!!)

Wednesday:



Talbots dress, red Caslon camisole, bronze BOC sandals

A day in the office, at last! Back to the casual business-casual. It's hot and sticky, and both my co-workers are on vacation, so I am working triple-time. After the first two days of suits and meetings until 8pm, I am not planning on wearing anything complicated all week. No half-hour dressing extravaganzas! ;-D

Instead, I am putting my morning energy into my wonderful bento. Lunch is so much more fun with this; I don't even mind eating at my desk without a break!



I laughed because this was my All Red lunch.
-Garden Salsa Sunchips
-red seedless grapes
-raspberry fatfree yogurt
-red pepper strips
-southwest tortilla wrap with lean roast beef and muenster cheese
-honey mustard light dressing for dipping the sandwich and the peppers

Today I tried a salad again, and this time went big. I put the salad in a separate container, and used the bento to hold the protein toppings and snacks.



The salad is:
spinach, field greens, leeks, fresh shredded carrot, red peppers and strawberries.
The bento has:
-roast beef and blue cheese crumbles for the salad
-red seedless grapes
-key lime fatfree yogurt
-almonds
-light balsamic dressing

Funny thing is, the last two days I haven't been eating the yogurt, and I don't bring my container back to the fridge after lunch so it's been going to waste. Think it might be time to stop bringing yogurt for a while. Clearly I am not in the mood!

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I noticed I got several new readers; welcome! I do try to post 4-5 times a week, I promise, but this week has been nutty. I have a whole backlog of Google Reader entries to catch up on too! Oy.