With a Twist of Lime

Back to Work in Sour Colors--Monday, 11/30/15

I thought this lime green/burgundy color combination (and outfit overall) was spectacular!

From chasingdavies.com

My burgundy skirt is more on the pink side than the maroon side, but I thought it still worked pretty well.  Because my lime sweater vest is sort of short, I wore my lace-hemmed black top under it.

When I was getting ready to leave for work and saw that it was below freezing (31 F) and snowing (about 2" so far), I added my black moto jacket to have with me at work, just in case my office had decided this was the moment to start getting cold.  Until now, my particular office has been a warm spot in the building (esp. compared to the frigid restroom), but if last winter is any guide, the cold will kick in at some point.  There is a chance that the window fix the maintenance people did a while back will help, but I'm not counting on it.  As it turned out, I didn't need it at all.

Burgundy pencil skirt (Nordstrom), $2.50/wear
Black long-sleeved T with lace hem (thrifted, Coldwater Creek), $0.80/wear+
*Lime sweater vest (thrifted, Liz Claiborne), $3.00/wear+
Brown leopard scarf (Kohls), $6.10/wear
Black leggings
Tall black boots by Fitzwell, $4.37/wear


Outfit total: $16.77/wear

This is a case where my version of the outfit fell appreciably short of the awesomeness of the original inspiration, but I enjoyed taking a chance on an unusual (to me) color combination.

And it was a good day to wear tall boots--mine are leather but they've been treated to be water-resistant, so they hold up just fine to a short walk across the parking lot (and I dry them off with paper towels once I get in to work, if needed).

In other news...Somebody at work took an extra vacation day today, even though she was supposed to work on a file for me.  Oh well, I told my boss what was up and it doesn't seem to be a huge problem that we won't be meeting our deadline for those reports. 

My sister sent me a Fitbit for my "birthday/unbirthday" present (she knows me well, right?)!  Soon I will have all kinds of new data to play with.

Last Day of the Weekend

That Scarf Again--Sunday, 11/29/15

This outfit is so, so sophisticated.

From pennypincherfashion.com

My version, from all rugged cotton thrift store pieces, not so much.

Beige T with sequins (thrifted, Target), $2.00/wear+
Brown cotton pants (thrifted, Nine and Company), $0.22/wear
Olive blazer (thrifted, Maurice's), $1.00/wear+
Fuchsia/cream/olive tie dye scarf (Target), $4.00/wear
Tan ankle boots by Easy Spirit, $9.41/wear+

Outfit total: $16.63/wear

But it was comfortable, seasonally appropriate, and can we just say bright pink tie dye for the win?  (I thought it was a funny coincidence that I wore the same scarf on Friday, the end of Part 1 of the long holiday weekend, as I did today.) 

Also, I always feel right wearing military green when playing Fallout because my character wears combat armor in this shade of green.

This is not my character (the screenshots are not working for me, boo).  It is Reilly, the leader of the mercenary group Reilly's Rangers.  The Rangers became fans of mine after I saved their collective asses from some super mutants who had them stranded on the roof of an abandoned hotel.  When I brought (most of) her team back safely to their base, Reilly gave me a set of their armor as a reward. 

I just looked up the armor on the wiki and found that it "is the strongest non-powered armor available in the game, and for players who value Agility over Strength, the Ranger armor is preferable to power armor as it grants nearly identical Damage Resistance (1-6 points lower in most cases, 11 points lower than the unique T-51b power armor and the Enclave Hellfire armor) without sacrificing Agility and movement speed or increasing the chance of detection while sneaking....Further, unlike Power Armor, Combat Armor requires no special training to use." 

 I actually just this weekend completed the quest where I got the T-51b power armor they mention, but I haven't gotten trained to use it, and I'm not sure I will ever use it.  My character is very strong (maxed out Strength stat plus Strong Back perk) but I play her as a sneaky small guns specialist who is also a compulsive scavenger/thief--the extra 13 pounds of carrying capacity from wearing combat armor instead of power armor could be used to bring a bunch of teddy bears or Iguana-on-a-Stick back home!

In other news...Speaking of teddy bears: for something just absolutely silly, you must see this clip that Tam sent (about 5 minutes long).  It features Benedict Cumberbatch, otters, a teddy bear, and a wide-eyed-with-clearly-mixed-emotions Johnny Depp. Good stuff, people.

Hey, did you know we have to go back to work tomorrow?  What the hell????

Weekend, Part 2

Saturday All Over Again--Saturday, 11/28/15

After the TG Thursday and Friday holidays, it now feels like yet another weekend started today.  Back to back weekends--I'm a fan!

I was also a fan of this simple outfit combining a long/loose top with a boxy jacket.

From whatmamawears.blogspot.ca

Of course I had to go with bright teal instead of purple.

Dove LOVE graphic T (Kohls), $3.44/wear
Bootcut jeans (thrifted, Target), $0.42/wear
Boxy teal blazer (thrifted, Coldwater Creek), $1.67/wear+
Bright teal ballet flats (Payless), $1.18/wear
Ruby heart pendant from Mom and Dad+

Outfit total: $6.71/wear

See, LOVE and a heart necklace--what could more perfectly sum up how I feel about long holiday weekends?

In other news...I was pretty surprised by a recent Pew study that found that 40% of Millennials "say the government should be able to prevent people publicly making statements that are offensive to minority groups" (compared to about a quarter of Gen X and Boomers).  That seems high to me, but I guess it's in keeping with other information about the climate of strangled speech on college campuses these days.

The Aftermath

Lumpen--Friday, 11/27/15

Focal item: Over-sized cream pullover sweater

I liked this as an inspiration for a comfy weekend outfit that includes pants that aren't jeans, something I rarely do, and my big-ass cream sweater.

From alittlebitofcheer.com

A very common piece of (quite good) style advice is to pair an over-sized item with other items that are more lean and/or structured.  Well, not today, my friends.  Today is Comfort Uber Alles.

Over-sized (men's) cream pullover sweater (thrifted, Fieldgear), $2.50/wear+
Olive pants (thrifted, Coldwater Creek), $0.63/wear
Fuchsia/cream/olive tie dye scarf (Target), $6.00/wear+
Orchid flats by Born, $2.08/wear

Outfit total: $11.21/wear

I have found it harder to wear this scarf ever since I donated my old lime-to-olive/magenta linen skirt, but I thought this combination worked out quite nicely.

In other news...In case you wondered, it is possible to eat an entire (low-sugar) pumpkin cheesecake in 2 days.  Having started with a 3.5 pound ham (!!), we are going to be working on that for a while.

What to Wear to Eat Pumpkin Cheesecake

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving--Thursday, 11/26/15

Jen's Reverse Inspiration combines light blue and brown in a winter work outfit.

From fashionablyemployed.com

I was initially going to do mine as a work outfit as well, but when I put on my too-short-without-tights brown skirt, I realized it was too short to wear to work with tights as well.  And there was something funny with the waistband too, so I put it in the Goodwill donation pile.  I substituted a hiking skirt and made myself a day-off-work outfit instead. 

I wore this today even though it's not the most forgiving waistband in the world.  But I didn't expect to be stuffed today (and wasn't).  On a related note, am I the only one who detests the term "food baby"?  I mean, seriously, do people ever eat so much food that they look pregnant??

Brown hiking skirt (thrifted, Lane Bryant), $1.67/wear
Light blue and brown striped pullover sweater (thrifted, Tommy Hilfiger), $1.67/wear+
Silver chain necklace from Mom+
Brown tights
Tall brown boots by Fitzwell, $9.54/wear

Outfit total: $12.88/wear

Despite all the brown in my outfit and the bold stripes, it's not really a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving around here.  If we were doing a Brown family TG, I guess it would be more appropriate if I were dressed like Sally Brown, right?  (I do rock the bright pink often enough.)

In other news...We got our first notable snow of the season, though it did not stick to the roads.  A good day to stay in and play a lot of Boggle!  (My best word--in terms of being an unusual word, not in terms of points--was "baize," for which I even knew the definition, though I wasn't sure I was spelling it correctly.  Robert boggled.)

And a good day to enjoy our Thanksgiving feast, of course.  Robert bought a ham, but didn't notice that it was not pre-sliced.  So it was all, "the Grinch himself carved the roast beast" around here today.  I had my ham with roasted bell peppers followed by pumpkin cheesecake, of course.  I might have had pumpkin cheesecake for dinner as well.

It's also possible that I might have a done a bit of online shopping because of all the Black Friday sales.  Perhaps.

Welcome to the Four Day Weekend

70s Librarian Style--Wednesday, 11/25/15

This is one of the oldest outfits in my outfits-to-try list, so was glad it finally turned cool enough again for me to wear it.  Of course, by the time I got around to wearing it, the shockingly sudden start of Winter, Part 1 occurred so now it's most definitely not to warm for the weather.

The inspiration photo combines black tights, brown leopard boots, and a lovely shade of green.

From...???  StyleUp, I think

I wish I had a beautiful green coat like that, but it wouldn't be much use to me at work except for the few minutes I spend crossing the parking lot.  But a green striped shirt?  That can be awesome all day long.

Green/blue striped button up shirt (thrifted, Nine West)$2.00/wear+
Black sweater vest (thrifted, Foxcroft), $0.80/wear
Denim skirt (thrifted, Great Northwest Indigo), $0.83/wear
Black tights
Black smoking slippers by Clarks, $2.63/wear
Owl pendant (Kohls), $1.89/wear

Outfit total: $8.15/wear

I don't know why the button up shirt/sweater vest/owl pendant combination screams 1970s librarian to me, but there are worse looks I could be channeling.

In other news...I arrived home to find the two books I ordered from Amazon had arrived, as I'd hoped, so I am going into the long weekend with a good supply of reading material.  There is something decadent about purchasing hardback books.  I really can't remember the last time I did so.  (I almost never buy books at all, of course.)  But I think these are going to be good ones!

Today at work I spent some time validating the data in some visualizations I've been developing on and off for a few months, and not only do they look great and have some nifty functionality, everything on the data side checks out so far.  This feels like a minor miracle given the complicated joins/calculated fields/sets/parameters/table calculations involved, but I guess all the time I spent finding problems in the data by looking up records on individual people in our database paid off.  Actually, I ran into one thing in a dashboard that did NOT match up with my data download--the percentages were pretty close but the number of records were about four times what I had in my download--and I was a little bit freaked out for about 2 minutes until I remembered, Oh yeah, those guys hadn't finished entering their data by the Q1 deadline so what I got in my download was only partial data.  In a way, I find it reassuring that I did notice when something didn't look right. 

This alert Dutch bunny looks ready for a treat.  So am I!  But unfortunately I have to cook it first. 

...Which reminds me of this article about the myth of easy cooking (sent by Tam).  Every one of those celebrity chef assholes who publish "15 minute" recipes that require about 15 minutes worth of vegetable chopping before you even start cooking can go fuck themselves.  I mean, seriously, could anyone who is not a professional chef produce anything that looks like this in 15 minutes?  (And as the article points out, clean up time also matters!)

Reading Books

Unusual Color Combo--Tuesday, 11/24/15

Focal item:  Dark grey crew neck cardigan

Grey, coral, and burgundy/maroon is not a top-of-mind color combination, but I liked the look of it in this inspiration photo.

From morepiecesofme.com

And the grey sweater + burgundy skirt combo was worn to good effect here.

From northwestblonde.com

The orange-y color against the purple-y burgundy was a little extreme in my outfit, but when I tucked in the top and put a scarf over it to break up the colors a bit, I liked it better.  (I think the coral + maroon combination is more promising.)

Dark grey crew neck cardigan (thrifted, Tommy Hilfiger), $1.00/wear+
Coral top (Target), $1.75/wear
Burgundy skirt (Nordstrom), $4.24/wear
Grey/coral tree scarf (Target), $1.33/wear
Grey tights
Grey ankle boots by Seychelles, $11.67/wear

Outfit total: $19.99/wear

All for the low price of under $20/wear!

In other news...Last night I finished the final book from my pre-wedding-trip Amazon order, The Wise Man's Fear.  It was a huge book, so it sort of felt like I was going to be reading it forever.  But then it ended (and waaaaaah, the third book in the trilogy is not out yet) and I realized that I am really low on books to read going into a four day holiday weekend--yikes! 

But I came up with two recent books that I really want to read--Elizabeth George's A Bouquet of Consequences (published Oct 27) and Robert Galbraith's [JK Rowling's] A Career of Evil (published Oct 20)--that had not yet come out when I went down to Texas.  And I ordered them from Amazon on Monday morning so that they should arrive with Prime shipping on Wednesday.

In the meantime, I do still have a few books from my mom to read, so I started Storm Front by John Sandford, from a long series about a Minnesota good-ol-boy investigator.

I know it must sound like I do nothing but take outfit photos and play Fallout 3, but I'm still reading a lot of books, too.  I have a pretty big backlog of books that I am meaning to write brief reviews about.  We'll see if I can get started on that again sometime soon.

The Scarf Conundrum

Plus Working the Tights--Monday, 11/23/15

Reverse Inspiration #1:  Dark green skirt with a black/white plaid top.  In the ballpark.

From forsevenseasons,wordpress.com

Reverse Inspiration #2:  Dark teal skirt with snow leopard top.  Closer.

From ninethirtytofive.blogspot.com

Apparently other people don't have a black/teal floral/paisley top that matches their dark teal pencil skirts.  More's the pity.

Black/teal floral/paisley top (thrifted, Kohls) $2.00/wear+
Dark teal pencil skirt (JCP), $3.01/wear
Black cardigan (Walmart), $0.77/wear
Black tights
Black mary janes by Hush Puppies, $6.72/wear
Big dark grey ball necklace (Macy's), $2.31/wear

Outfit total: $14.81/wear

See what I mean about floral/paisley?  And since it's a pointillist pattern, I guess I could call it polka dot as well.  It's three...three...three patterns in one!  (Note to self: Wear this shirt more often.  It's so comfortable.  Try it in the summer with the bright teal pencil skirt.)

My office mate was dressed in the same colors as I was today.  A teal top with black pants and a very, very similar black cardigan.  

In other news...This weekend, we went through our drawers of winter gear because I was looking for some gloves.  And I found my black scarf in Robert's drawer.  Robert was like, Well, I have a scarf like that, too, you know.  But I took it and put it in my drawer anyway because I wasn't quite sure I believed him and in any case, that was the only scarf of its kind we found.

So when I was getting in my car after work today, I was trying to decide whether to leave the gloves I'd worn in the car or take them upstairs.  This made me think of my practice last winter of leaving my black gloves in the front seat of the car every day.  Huh, but they're not there now; I must have moved them...to the backseat of the car...with the black hat and black scarf.

Oops.  Sorry, Robert.  You can have your scarf back now.

But for the record, I did NOT take his work badge that he couldn't find this morning before work.  

Also: "The Scarf Conundrum" totally sounds like an episode of Big Bang Theory.

Bunny and Satire and More Bunnies

Teal Cuddles--Sunday, 11/22/15

This was a very fancy, sparkly way to wear a graphic T--with leopard cardigan, necklace o' bling, heels, and a dressy skirt.

From fashionfairydust.com

I borrowed the graphic T + animal print cardigan aspects of this for a cuddly weekend outfit.  I don't need fancy when I've got the Cuddle Bunny action going.

Black woven hiking skirt (thrifted, Columbia), $2.50/wear
Cuddle Bunny T (Kohls), $1.70/wear
Zebra cardigan (thrifted, Gap), $2.50/wear+
Teal scarf (Target), $1.71/wear+
Bright teal flats (Payless), $1.30/wear
+ Black leggings + teal Groucho rabbit socks (it's kind of chilly!)

Outfit total: $12.21/wear

In other news...Beware the Four Horsemen of Gentrification!  "Greek will be the only variety of yogurt" is a hell Robert is already living in.

Yesterday evening, Robert and I did some shopping and not only did we stock up on stuff for Thanksgiving, I returned clothes at 3 stores (including the tights with the hole in them that Target refunded my money for with no hassle) and bought tights at the 2 of them that weren't Target.  Both Kohls and JCP had a decent selection of non-black tights available in store, so I think I'm stocked up pretty well.

I'm glad that took care of those errands last night because I slept in more than usual (and even stranger, more than Robert) and woke up feeling sick.  I think it's the start of another sinus infection.  You know it's bad when I'm even too wimpy to play Fallout!  I'm glad this is a short workweek ahead of us.

And now for more bunnies, as promised.  (It is Bunday after all!)  Please enjoy a black satin and a Dutch.

Saturday in Wonderland

Your Hair Wants Cutting--Saturday, 11/22/15

Yet another inspiration photo from Bridgette Raes.  She is just too good!

From bridgetteraes.com

For the longest time I didn't have a grey pullover sweater, but even now that I do, rather than replicate this outfit, I used the basic pink + grey + bootcut jeans formula as an excuse to get this cardigan into the Work the Wardrobe Challenge and to wear my Alice T again.  (Because almost every pregnancy update photo I've seen of my sister has her wearing this style of Skechers, I'm also enjoying the opportunity to twin her from a distance.  I can't do a thing to make her pregnancy easier but I stand in sartorial solidarity.)

Pink and grey striped cardigan (thrifted, Kohls), $1.67/wear+
Bootcut jeans (thrifted, Target), $0.45/wear
Alice in Wonderland T (Out of Print), $3.83/wear
Light pink scarf (Walmart), $0.83/wear
Grey Skechers

Outfit total: $6.78/wear

In other news...I was waffling a bit about getting my hair cut today, but after putting on this shirt, I knew it had to happen.  After all, this is the mad tea party scene in which Alice meets the Mad Hatter for the first time, and they have the following exchange:

'Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech. 

'You should learn not to make personal remarks,' Alice said with some severity; 'it's very rude.' 

And if you look at her in that drawing, and get past the mega-grump expression...well, I have to agree with Hatter.  Her hair is looking pretty straggly.

I'm very happy with my haircut (it's a chin-length bob, a bit longer in front than back, and the back is slightly stacked) but it does feel a bit silly have to cut off all my hair just in time for the onset of winter.  Fortunately, it's easy to use scarves to keep my neck warm.  I need to make sure I start having one of my handmade recycled-t-shirt scarves handy for wearing to bed. 

It's also time for me to pull out my gloves and hat.  It was below freezing on the way to and from the hair salon and it felt rather chilly.  I was excited to wear my new quilted "car coat" (that I bought from Jones New York when they had a fabulous sale) today.  For work, I usually wear a very long coat that protects my legs from the cold, but in jeans, I was comfortable in the shorter coat today.

Floral Friday Finally

Another Day, Another Long Necklace--Friday, 11/20/15

I love the dark floral print in this inspiration photo.  I don't have one quite like that, but the basic idea of dark floral print blouse, dark jacket, dark pants, and ankle boots was a good one.

From bridgetteraes.com

I felt oddly Texan in my bootcut jeans and pointy-toed ankle boots.  I showed Robert the length of my jeans with the boots and he approved them as long enough.  When I wear these jeans with ballet flats, I sometimes wonder why I haven't hemmed them and usually suppose that it's laziness.  And maybe it is, but the benefit is that they are perfect with boots.

Black blouse with beige flowers and band bottom (thrifted, the Limited), $1.33/wear+
Black ponte knit blazer (Target), $2.50/wear
Bootcut jeans (thrifted, Target), $0.50/wear
*Black/silver pendant (JCP), $15.37/wear+
Black ankle boots by Sam Edelman, $4.11/wear

Outfit total: $23.81/wear

And yep, the necklace is the sibling of the red one I wore yesterday.  This is my inexpensive version of the $80 Kendra Scott Rayne necklaces that every fashion blogger has been wearing this past year.  I saved $65 each and I kind of like that it isn't an exact me-too of the necklace everybody is wearing.

In a weird coincidence, this is the "other black floral top with a banded hem" that I accidentally tried to wear on Monday.  It's amusing to wear them both this week.

In other news...I have had a super-productive couple of days at work, figuring out some stuff I didn't know how to do, and got to leave today feeling like this.

"I am the smartest woman alive!"

That Cold North Wind

And All the New Things--Thursday, 11/19/15

I've been wanting a blue denim jacket for a while, but it's exactly the kind of thing that is almost impossible to find at the thrift store.  So I ordered one at JCP last week.  It was a wrinkly thing, but shaped up after I assaulted it with a hot iron for a while.  (I mean, seriously, wrinkly denim?  This was new to me.)

I didn't want to wait to wear it, so I grabbed this nice inspiration photo and got to work.

From nicoletothenines.com

I moved the grey in the handbag to tights and tall boots and boom.  Done.  Ready for a high of 35 F and strong winds.

Grey leopard long-sleeved T (Apt 9/Kohls), $2.00/wear+
Red corduroy skirt (thrifted, H and M), $0.83/wear+
*Blue denim jacket (Liz Claiborne/JCP), $32.29/wear+
*Red/silver pendant (JCP), $15.37/wear+
Grey tights
Tall grey boots by LifeStride, $14.28/wear

Outfit total: $64.77/wear

I also wore another of my new necklaces.  I've enjoyed my gold tassel and owl pendants so much that I wanted to add a few other long necklaces to my collection.  This one was spot on (or on spots or something).

In other news...Why do students drop out of college? "Given current levels of academic preparation in secondary schools, many students are not prepared for success at four-year, and even two-year colleges."

A data point from the paper cited in the article that aligns with other research I've read on who successfully completes college:  85% of the students who successfully graduate from a four-year college made mostly As and Bs in high school.  Four-year college graduates had an average overall high school GPA of 3.28.

The article further notes, "Finally, we conclude that had four year college drop-outs begun their postsecondary careers at a two-year college, their predicted probabilities of postsecondary degree completion would be significantly higher. While most of this increase in degree completion comes through increased associate’s degree attainment, about a third of four-year college drop-outs would have a higher chance of bachelor’s degree completion, had they begun college at a two-year institution."

Midweek Pink and Black

The Tights Saga Continues--Wednesday, 11/18/15

If I were awarding a Most Valuable Player award to the Reverse Inspiration bloggers, Alice would be the hands-down favorite.  I think it's because she can always be counted on to combine bright colors and interesting patterns...as she did here with bright pink and black (and a top that mixes a floral pattern and a grid pattern, all by itself).

From happinessatmidlife.com

It seems strange to me that bright pink has become one of my signature colors.  But I like how it pops against this mostly black outfit.

*Purple/black/pink drapeneck knit top (thrifted, Kenneth Cole), $4.00/wear+
Black pencil skirt (thrifted, Briggs New York), $1.00/wear
Drapey bright pink cardigan (Macy's), $2.40/wear
Black tights (Assets by Spanx/Kohls)
Black buckle flats by Me Too, $3.15/wear
Gold fish charm necklace (Ann Taylor), $5.79/wear

Outfit total: $16.34/wear

I think of this fish charm necklace as a summer piece, so I am really trying to break out of that habit of thinking and wear it during other seasons.  I mean, fish are fish year-round, no?  And up in the frozen north, ice fishing is a major thing in the winter.

Tights update:  I was so excited to try my new tights from Target, but they are horrible.  When I took them out of the packaging, I was unhappy with the thin fabric...and unhappier when I ripped a run in them while trying to put them on.  They don't seem like tights--they're like slightly thicker pantyhose.  Robert wondered if it was because they were too small.  I routinely size up in tights, and I bought the largest size Target carries, which is supposed to fit up to 5'11" and 230 pounds, so that should have been plenty big.  I think they ripped because they're ultra-crap quality, not because they were too small.  Anyway, this weekend I will be returning my multiple pairs of $9 tights to the store for a refund.  Those tights were such a bargain. BAH.

Luckily the burgundy sweater tights I ordered from Kohls seem to fit great and be durable enough to last at least a full 10 minutes of wear!  (I actually have much greater hopes for them.)  They are much better deal than the Target ones even if they were...oh wait...$8.99.  Fuck you, Target tights.  At least the sweatpants with the rabbit on them from Target seem pretty awesome--loose and comfy without being sloppy-huge and I think they'll be cozy for winter (though I am wearing them now, too).

In other news...A local high school tennis phenom has signed at UC-Berkeley, where I bet you can play tennis all year round.

It has been a rainy week but I'm not complaining.  I mean, it's mid-November and liquid is falling from the sky.  It's amazing!

In the Circus

...Sartorially Speaking--Tuesday, 11/17/15

This Reverse Inspiration has a summertime vibe that in a couple months would make me envious.  But for now, I'm all about cold weather layering.

From artinthefind.com

My version gives me a chance to wear yet another sweater vest.  I'm addicted to these things!

Blue button up shirt with aqua/white stripes (thrifted, JNY), $1.33/wear+
Navy paisley skirt (thrifted, Target), $1.50/wear
*White sweater vest (thrifted, Casual Corner), $4.50/wear+
Navy sleeveless cardigan (thrifted, Tommy Hilfiger), $0.63/wear
Navy tights
Navy ankle boots by Seychelles, $11.67/wear

Yep, this is what I was wearing when I spilled tea all over myself--AGAIN--while getting ready for work.  Bah!

I still wore my new elephant pendant, even though it doesn't look as good on the striped shirt as it did on the white sweater vest.  (And even though it suggests that I'm supporting a Republican candidate for President, but politics are irrelephant.)

*Silver elephant pendant (JCP), $9.60/wear+

Outfit total: $24.73/wear

In other news...What a bunch of ridiculous drama!  Not only is the woman who runs this pre-school a controlling, paranoid bitch, she can't spell worth a damn.

And special for my sister, the photo at the bottom of this post made me think of you (and your future).  Only there would be a doggie in the mix too!

Damn Back at Work

It's been a rough few days.  My grandmother died Sunday night, and I continued to be concerned about my screwed-up file at work.

The screwed-up file situation has at least resolved itself.  I think that now that the network is (mostly) functioning again, my file seems to be back to normal.  But my absolute favorite person in the technology department also restored my file from the two previous days, so I will be able to check certain things against the older files to make sure they are working.  Whew!

An Outfit--Monday, 11/16/15

I just loved this fun combination of houndstooth pants and a colorful floral top.  I saw a tiny thumbnail of this outfit photo on a linkup on someone's blog and something about the colors and pattern mixing jumped out at me.  I knew I'd have to try my own version right away.

From redreticule.com

For the houndstooth, I substituted a microcheck pencil skirt.  It's funny--I had planned to wear this black/teal/mustard floral top with the banded hem but when I went to get it out of the closet, I somehow forgot what I was doing and got a black/orange/mustard floral top with a banded hem instead.  How do I even have two items that are so similar?  (Answer: thrift stores.)  I liked the look of the skirt so well with that top that I have added it to my list for future outfit ideas.  But I returned the wrong top and got the right one, which I'm wearing now.

Black/teal/mustard floral knit top with banded hem (thrifted, Kohls), $1.00/wear+
Microcheck pencil skirt (JCP), $3.25/wear
Black tights
Black mary janes by Hush Puppies, $7.46/wear
Teal scarf (Target), $1.50/wear

Outfit total: $13.21

One thing that makes me happy about tights season is that I start wearing my black mary janes again.  They don't look right with bare legs--I think it's something about the contrast of the dark leather against my white skin--but I love them with a skirt and tights.  So yay for that.

In other news...Cool Ass Marketing of the Week goes to Costa Rica cat food company Super Gato.  Who doesn't love a good box?  (Link via AlreadyPretty)