Meowth to Meowth

"Introducing Bright Pink Pants"--Wednesday, 5/3/17

I bought these pants in February (at the same time as the red ones), and it's been a long wait to wear them.  But we are now firmly in the season of ankle pants and flats with no socks!  It was fun to wear a bunch of recently purchased spring items all in one outfit.

*Bright pink pants (JCP), $15.39/wear
Cream-white moto jacket (Loft), $8.75/wear
Navy and white striped swing top (Loft), $8.75/wear
Pink floral necklace (Target), $0.70/wear
Blue pointy-toed flats (Nordstrom), $1.92/wear

Outfit total: $35.51/wear

"Minty Boho Birds"--Thursday, 5/4/17

I decided to try these two items together because they both have "mint" in their name in my wardrobe spreadsheet.  While this has sometimes lead me a bit astray ("burgundy"), it worked beautifully this time.

Burgundy/mint birds blouse (Loft), $5.00/wear
Mint cardigan vest (Kohls), $2.93/wear
Black work pants (thrifted, CJ Banks), $0.44/wear
Grey leopard flats by Fergilicious, $0.50/wear
Dark grey ball necklace (Macy's), $1.76/wear

Outfit total: $10.63/wear

"May Flowers, Cardigan Style"--Friday, 5/5/17

The forecast said a high of 71 F but it ended up more like 75 F, which meant that a short-sleeved T and a lightweight cardigan with rolled up sleeves was an even more perfect choice than I'd expected.  I'm also enjoying continuing to incorporate this bold necklace (that I bought for Robert's mom's wedding) into work outfits.

Navy floral cardigan (JNY), $2.43/wear
Denim trousers (thrifted, Boden), $0.66/wear
White short-sleeved T (thrifted, Lands End), $0.80/wear
Blue/crystal statement necklace (Baublebar), $4.33/wear
Blue pointy-toed flats (Nordstrom), $1.85/wear

Outfit total: $10.07

Isn't this bunny sweet?  Could not resist the adorable matching bowls and plates with this cute guy.

In other news...It's time to share this "I ate three eggs every single morning for a week, here's what happened" article that Tam sent me a while back.  I'm a little bit of a sucker for these reports of self-experimentation in general, but this one is brilliant.

With each passing day, the probability that I will continue to be employed for the coming year (July 1-June 30) at my current job increases.  Our department director has said that she is prioritizing keeping employees as she deals with our reduced budget, and she thinks we should be OK given that she is not replacing one person who left for another department a while back and another person who is retiring August 1.  But last year there was a last minute deeper cut that all administrative departments had to absorb, so we can't rule out additional cuts that will blow up her budget.  But I am feeling less stressed than I did at this time last year, and I'm liking that part.

So hopefully I will not be on the job market soon, where I will be depressed when reading articles talking about the utter uselessness of job interviews, for example.
 
I just freaked myself out when I realized it was 8:00 p.m.  We have daylight so late that evening really sneaks up on you...a lot like today's featured Pokemon.  Meowth is totally the Pharaoh Pokemon, no?

Exeggutor of My Will

"May Day Maroon"--Monday, 5/1/17

May Day brings up mental images of flowers and streamers and other spring-y things...so butterflies, OK, there are butterflies on my scarf.  And my sweater is pink.  But I'm still doing tights and boots on a rainy day with a high of 40 F.

Dusky pink pullover sweater (Loft), $3.09/wear
Black space dye skirt (Old Navy), $0.91/wear
Black tights + maroon ankle boots by Dolce Vita, $5.52/wear
Black/grey/pink butterfly scarf (Kohls), $2.00/wear

Outfit total: $11.52

"Last Tights for a Thousand Years"--Tuesday, 5/2/17

Yep, that's a spoiler for you, but it's kind of exciting to be done with tights season at the beginning of May!  It's funny, I'm always torn (like a pair of cheap, thin Target tights on their first wear) when it's time to shift between Tights and No Tights seasons, regardless of which direction.  I think I just get used to the advantages offered by each season and am loath to give them up...until enough time has passed and then I don't want to give up the new advantages.

Burgundy skirt (Nordstrom), $1.70/wear

Cream peplum pullover sweater (Loft), $5.45/wear
Dark grey blazer (JNY), $2.68/wear
Grey tights + grey leopard wedges by Cole Haan, $6.19/wear
Black/grey cat scarf (Nordstrom), $2.00/wear

Outfit total: $18.02/wear

A trio of rabbit towels (left: Target; middle: Target--last year; right: Pier 1). 

In other news...This was a depressing but eye-opening read about sexual assault in high school sports.  Trump is bad enough, but coaches who dismiss rape on their watch as "hazing" and normal locker room antics are unbelievable.

Guess which US  state has seen the largest drop in state education funding since the 2008 crash, a 27% reduction in real dollars? 

This post is brought to you by Exeggutor, which looks like the result of a bad genetic experiment involving a palm tree, a pineapple, and a half dozen eggs.

Sunkern Treasure

"Pseudo Dress Again...with Purple"--Thursday, 4/27/17

Paired the dark grey top and dark grey skirt for a pseudo-dress foundation for featuring various shades of purple and magenta.  10/10 will pair again.

Purple blazer (thrifted, Kohls), $0.22/wear
Dark grey long-sleeved T (Kohls), $1.25/wear
Dark grey skirt (Walmart), $0.86/wear
Grey tights + grey ankle boots by Seychelles, $4.00/wear
Burgundy/magenta floral scarf (Target), $2.00/wear

Outfit total: $8.33/wear

"Slightly Edgy Aqua Flow"--Friday, 4/28/17

As April drew to a close, we were hitting the very end of the cashmere sweater season here in Coldville.  (I know, readers who have been experiencing 80 F plus temps for weeks are not feeling sorry for me.)  For this last hurrah, I decided to go with some triple pattern mixing...which is easy to do when your scarf has two patterns by itself.  This outfit amused me with its blend of soft, flowing fabrics in bright pastels + black moto items.

Aqua cashmere pullover sweater (Macy's), $5.00/wear
Black and white geometric reeds skirt (JCP), $1.61/wear
Black moto vest (JCP), $1.89/wear
Black tights + black ankle boots by Sam Edelman, $1.59/wear
Light blue/orchid leopard/floral scarf (thrifted), $1.40/wear

Outfit total: $11.49/wear

Today I'm going to start sharing some of the cute items I got from the Easter Bunny.  Since copious quantities of dark chocolate is off the menu, I got a kitchen-ware focused set of rabbit items instead, upon which I can eat my normal low-oxalate snacks. 

Tam has to take credit/blame for much of this because she texted me a photo from Pier 1.  Robert and I visited Pier 1 a few days later to help the Easter Bunny with this shopping, and we found this same set of small plates that Tam had alerted me to with her text.  Are they the cutest or what?  I find that I am a complete sucker for rabbits in glasses.  (The pink bow girl has cat's-eye glasses that look like the ones I wear, only black instead of gold.)

In other news...I enjoyed this list of the "most under-rated places" in every state.  How many of them have you been to?  I have only been to 2 of them, in Colorado (I am feeling hot and tired just thinking about that place) and in Oklahoma (like, you know, a lot). 

Do any of them catch your fancy?  I admit that North Dakota is appealing to me in its utter silliness.  Indiana is a must-see.  North Carolina looks like a fun way to spend the day.

Today's post is brought to you by Sunkern, a stripey little fella that's been all over our apartment complex this weekend because of the special "Worldwide Bloom" event that has made all grass-type Pokemon more common.  (Timed to coincide with everything blooming in Coldville, causing my allergies to go out of control.  Luckily this weekend was better than it has been the last two weeks or so on that front, so I was able to go out and enjoy the event.)  Some people are saying that they haven't noticed an appreciable increase in grass Pokemon with the event, but our experience is that grass types have been out in force.  Sunkern, Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Exeggcute, Oddish...these have all been significantly more common than usual. 

Hoppip Hurray

"Burga-Dots"--Wednesday, 4/26/17

I had not tried wearing the burgundy skirt with the multi-red-shade polka dot blouse before, but I think it worked despite the burgundy dots being a much deeper hue than the skirt.  But then the scarf was an even darker burgundy color, which I think helped my cause slightly as the outfit is more clearly a melange of many burgundy-like colors, not the pairing of two mis-matched ones.  Or that's my hope.

Black/burgundy/red polka dot blouse (thrifted, Notations), $1.05/wear
Burgundy skirt (Nordstrom), $1.78/wear
Black tuxedo jacket (thrifted, Chico's), $0.56/wear
Black tights + black ankle boots by Sam Edelman, $1.63/wear
Burgundy scarf (Payless), $2.26/wear

Outfit total: $7.28/wear

This Florida white is like, Hmmm, there is something odd about your outfit, but I'm not sure what it is.  Oh well, silly humans, whatever.

I would have gotten more caught up on outfits this evening but I'm now also behind on downloading and editing photos from my camera, and while my headache is only about half as bad as it was at work today, that's still enough that I don't feel like dealing with all that.

Today I finally finished a project working with HR data that has required about 6 different attempts by my HR contact to get the data I actually need.  I don't blame her for that, really; neither of us really knew the data well enough (me, almost not at all) for her to get it right the first time.  It was kind of interesting to work my analyst muscles against this novel opponent, who was something of a shape shifter (the data, not my friend in HR).  When I delivered the spreadsheet to my co-worker this morning (who is working directly with our client in another department), she was thrilled because it turns out that the client has a big meeting on Thursday which this report will be perfect for.  (To the credit of both my co-worker and the client, neither were pressuring me or even told me about the meeting in advance because they knew that HR and I have discovered a gazillion issues to resolve in turning the pay roll data into useful information, they knew I was working on it assiduously, and they had accepted that it would take as long as it would take.)

This month is promising to be the busiest one I've had in a while.  In addition to a couple of major once-a-year projects and several brand new things coming up, people in other departments are realizing, "Oh wait, it's getting close to the end of the year (June 30) so we should get Sally busy working on things with that funding we've allocated to her."  I knew this would happen, and so far, it's looking manageable.  But I am definitely feeling myself straddling that line between "busy enough to be maximally productive" and "waaaaaaaah too much!"  I think I will be back on the busy-without-panicking side of things by the end of the week because I have a project I'm starting on in the morning that seems daunting but I've done several times now, so I've worked out the basic process (which is pretty well documented) and have written a lot of code that I will be able to use with minor tweaks.  I mean, it's different every year in ways that aren't predictable, but I'm familiar enough with the data and with the range of issues that can arise with it that I don't expect it to be that tricky.  I think I will basically zoom through it and produce a bunch of reports by the end of the week, which will be an invigorating and hopeful experience going into the completely unfamiliar territory that next week holds.

This post is brought to you by Hoppip...who is NOT the same as Hiphop the cartoon rabbit that I can't find on the Internet [wha?] (Robert bought me a pail featuring this character at Goodwill and it's perfect for keeping my medications in) or Hip Hop the sports ex-mascot I had never heard of before.

"This Pokémon drifts and floats with the wind. If it senses the approach of strong winds, Hoppip links its leaves with other Hoppip to prepare against being blown away."

Cubone to Cub Leader

"With Ketchup and Mustard"--Monday 4/24/17

With a high in the upper 60s last Monday, I was able to introduce one of my Actual Spring purchases, a pair of red ankle pants.  65 to 70 F is a tricky temperature range because it's definitely too warm for tights, but bare legs are a little bit iffy.  So pants to the rescue.  I know that many people, in many other places, wear pants most often in the colder months, but for me, these seasonal transitions are when they come most in handy.

Black diamond cardigan (JNY), $4.93/wear
White short-sleeved T (Amber Sun), $5.00/wear
*Red pants (JCP), $17.49/wear
Mustard flats by Mia, $0.88/wear
Purple/red/yellow semi-floral scarf (Target), $1.00/wear

Outfit total: $29.30/wear

I let this scarf be my guide to pairing the outfit with yellow shoes.  Not only do I look like a condiment tray, I am book-ending my blonde hair.  Smart, real smart.

"Not Paging Dr. Sally"--Tuesday, 4/25/17

I chose this outfit for another rainy day with an 8:00 off site meeting...but the meeting was canceled the day before, which made me happy.  (It's rescheduled for mid-May in my office building, so that's a win.)  I wasn't sure how the white jacket would work with black pants--I feel that combination brings out whatever lab coat qualities a white jacket possesses. Apparently this particular jacket has minimal doctoral aspects because I didn't feel like a fraudulent MD at all wearing it with black work pants.  It was also fun to wear this scarf from my sister for the first time, with the weather having warmed up from "scarf that keeps your neck from frostbite" to "scarf that looks nifty" temperatures.

Purple top (Lands End), $1.99/wear
Cream-white moto jacket (Loft), $11.67/wear
Black work pants (thrifted, CJ Banks), $0.48/wear
Black buckle flats by Me Too, $2.06/wear
*Silky aqua/lavender paisley scarf (gift)

Here is a Holland lop with a broken pattern, and possibly a broken heart.  Poor sad little bunny.  But I think he's hearing something that interests him slightly, so perhaps a cheering up via the delivery of delectable treats is imminent.

In other news...This is the cutest thing I've seen all week.  (Thanks for the link, Robert! Thanks for the Internet, Al Gore!)  It's hard to pick a favorite.  #4 and #5 thrill me with their Alice in Wonderland vibes (especially taken together), but the one that keeps stopping me to laugh is #7.

This morning I woke up twice in a row from disturbing dreams, which I will relate because this is my blog and no one can stop me.

#1:  I was at one of those outdoor movie screenings that happen in the summer, where everyone brings blankets and sits on the grass and watches E.T. or whatever.  And from the distance approached something...a big bird?...no, a dragon.  An actual dragon.  It was huge and magnificent and kind of freaky how it was able to hover in place like a hummingbird while chomping into a skein of geese that were flying by (inexplicably unaware of the carnage that was happening).  After a few moments, some other people on the grass started noticing the dragon too, calling out and pointing at it.  I woke up at the moment I realized that the dragon was just starting to become aware of the existence of much larger meat-morsels on the ground not very far away.

#2:  I was staying in a friend's house (alone), and the TV in the den had been left on.  I sat down to see what was playing, and quickly determined that it was a scary movie I didn't want to see.  So I turned the TV off...and the sound continued to play.  Realizing that the sound was coming from the stereo, I turned the volume knob...and despite moving from 150 through 0 and back up to 500 and down, etc., the volume didn't change.  I found the stereo's off switch and pushed it...and nothing happened.  At this point, I started getting really creeped out...and woke up.  What was a bit weird and extra disturbing was that as I woke up, even though I knew I was awake, I also had this sense that the scary movie had somehow been transferred from the equipment to my own brain, and that the first time I blinked my eyes, the images would start playing again to accompany the sound of the movie in my head.  It took me a few moments to get from "I was sleeping and now I'm awake" to "and that means that the weird movie thing was a dream that has now stopped."

This post is brought to you by Cubone, the Pokemon most likely to be confused with a pilot in a rebel squadron in the Star Wars universe.  (Robert got me started pronouncing it "Cub One" and now I can't stop.)  I'd never read the Pokedex description of it before--that's sad.