Hot hot hot

I really like this tank top. The ruffles are only on the front and they lie down flat against the shirt, so they add an interesting detail, but they don't add any bulk. Tomorrow is my first new job payday! Yay! I think I'll pay some bills! Oh wait...that's not fun...

I'm super excited (yes, Jen, like a small child) because I got myself some good snacks for work; natural fruit strips and pretzel crisps. But I can't get Pandora to make me a Musical only channel (as in actual musicals, not stupid Lion King...good stuff like Mary Poppins). It's being totally unhelpful. 

Top - Avenue
Pants - Thrifted
Shoes - Dexter

global airmail = $$$ (AKA want to buy a purse?)

So it turns out that to exchange those bags I got that I didn't want, I would have to ship them back to China...on my dime, in the original packaging. Which would cost $27.95, which is almost as much as one of the bags! So, guess what ladies! I'm selling them off! Truly, the only reason I'm not keeping them is that I personally have to have a shoulder strap or the weight of all the stuff I cram into my bags will cause my arms to fall off. The first person to claim a bag gets it, and we'll do the payment through my Etsy shop as a reserved item. Both prices include shipping within the US. (If you live outside the US, we might have to adjust it by a few bucks.)

The red bag has been sold!

$35 Noeud Papillon Shoulder Bag Tricolor Black here

yawn...

i have no feet!

Now that I don't have to work on the weekends, I'm always ridiculously tired during them. I knew that it would take me a while to adjust to working full-time rather than part-time, but I can't be this tired still because of it. And of course I need more sleep than the average bear because of my epilepsy. But even as a munchkin, I slept more than my sister. I tend to get what my dad calls "Tiny Tim" eyes if I don't sleep enough (big, dark circles underneath my eyes). Speaking of which, it is definitely time for a Sunday afternoon nap.

Dress - JMS
Shoes - Dexter

Finally the weekend!

Well, thank goodness, BagInc.com is going to let me exchange those bags for others. It'll take forever, sending them back to China and then having the new ones sent, but it's a ton better than just losing the money. And my nephew's birthday party is tomorrow! He's 7 now, and hugely tall. Sniffle...I was there when he was born! Some of us went out to eat lunch from the office today, and I splattered marinara sauce all over a shawl I was wearing, the table, and the cardigan of one of my co-workers. Fun times. This three-day weekend is desperately needed.

pursepursepursepursepurse

GORGEOUS. I love my new big purple purse. (I've got a free purple tote that's super cute as well) It's not just big, it's deep, so I can put tall things inside without straining the zipper. AND it has a shoulder strap, unlike my black ruffly bag. I am ticked, though, because I had ordered this bag along with 2 others from BagInc.com that I ended up not liking. The bags themselves are pretty, but I really need a shoulder strap and evidently I thought for some reason that they all had them. So I email their customer service about returning them (to China). Turns out since I got them on sale I can't return them. At all. So instead of 3 useable bags (and a free tote) for $103, I now have 1 bag and a tote for $103. And I don't have the money to blow that much on this purse, no matter how much I like it. I'll see if Jen wants to give me some cash for either, if not I think I'll put them up on eBay to try and recoup some of my money.

cranky face

Top - Avenue
Pants - JMS
Shoes - Mossimo

Man, am I behind.

Neither of these outfits are overly stunning on their own, but I'm a little cramped for time and clean clothes at the moment. My office is running on the cold side, so I'm wearing pants (and sometimes even a cardigan at work!). I've got a basket full of clothes to wash at home, but Tuesday I had a meeting at church, and Wednesday I had church choir. Guess what that makes this? That's right. Laundry night. I'm only going to do half the basket, but I really do need clean bras and an outfit for Friday.

Tuesday

Top -  Avenue
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Mossimo

Wednesday

Top - Avenue
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Crocs from ebay (Lily Black)

Henna dress

This is a new dress, and as soon as my sister saw it, she told me it looked like henna (body art). We both used to do henna during college, as soon as it got warm. We would either use the stencils that come with the paste or get an artistic friend we had to freehand designs. (The neatest thing about henna is that if you are the kind of person who can tan, and you tan over it, you'll get a reverse/white tattoo once the henna fades.)  I also apparently have been wearing mostly long dresses and skirts, since my dad told me that this dress was a little short, so I should watch how I sat at church. It's knee-length!

Dress - Avenue
Shoes - Born

Dude, I KNOW my t-shirt rocks.

Original TeeFury shirt 2x

If you have a large chest (like me) and large hips (like me), you can't wear the ladies shirts that places like TeeFury and Woot sell. They just don't fit. I need a men's 2x to cover up these babies without looking like a pornstar and/or stretching out the design. And the last thing I want is a tee that clings to my hips. So, I've become fairly (medicorely?) adept at cutting up tees to adjust them to fit me. Not to mention that I have a giant melon head and most tees have to super stretch as I put them on.

Shirt repurposed by me!

This gorgeous baby (which says "The angels have the phone box" and is of course a Doctor Who shirt from TeeFury) got the Erin special. I cut off the seam at the neck, then lopped off several (4 or so) inches from the bottom. It looks like a crop top, but never fear!

It covers me like a regular tee, and you can see all of that B-E-A-UTIFUL print. I didn't get any comments outside the family, but that's okay, I know it totally rocks.

Shirt - TeeFury
Jeans - Avenue
Shoes - Dexter

New Who Tomorrow!

Yes, just as exciting as the fact that I no longer have to work on Saturdays is the fact that BBC America shows the new Doctor Who episodes Saturday nights! I have my first Who TeeFury shirt that I bought, and I just might wear it tomorrow. The whole office went out to lunch today together for one girl's birthday. We went to a fish taco place, which I was not expecting to enjoy. And I didn't. I got a Caribbean shrimp quesadilla, which would have been fairly good if the shrimp hadn't been mushy. Luckily, later at the office we had cookies and ice cream, and that relieved all grumpiness over the shrimp. Also, I now have all the necessary passwords for work and they got my phone working this week, so it's just like I'm a normal employee! I've been hearing horror stories from everyone about how long it took them to get access to our sites when they started, but (considering the level of bureaucracy I'm dealing with) it went relatively quickly.

Top - Avenue
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Mossimo
Necklace - JewelMint

Long Little Friday

I spent the whole afternoon in training. The woman who did it is one of my co-workers and really nice, but 4 hours in the training room just wears me down completely. I'm still adjusting to working full-time, and trying to make sure I get enough sleep so I don't have a seizure. I've told everyone in my department of course, but there's a difference between being an epileptic and having a seizure in front of people. The difference being that it seems to scare the crap out of them, which is understandable.

I love the way this picture came out. It was way too dark to start with, so when I changed the brightness on my computer it gave it this retro look that goes well with the "wood" paneling. It's supposed to get warmer this weekend, so maybe I'll actually be able to wear a dress on Sunday. Tomorrow's definitely going to be pants again, though.

Sweater -Faded Glory
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Dexter

Staff appreciation

Today was staff appreciation day, so we had from 10-3 to go to various events, eat the provided meal, play games (not that I did), etc. Really, me and tiny mama ate, picked up all the free swag, and then went shopping until we were due back at the office.  I dressed down a bit, like most people do for this, and wore some pants that are almost leggings (Lands End) and a sweater (Roaman's) since it's gotten oddly chilly here what with all of the constant rain.

Ghost in the machine

That'll learn me to brag about being well-rested. I spent most of today chasing a ghost of a search through 46 quadrillion websites, trying to figure out if it was the right one with the right info. AND I had another training session after lunch (which is when I get tired and stupid-headed). Contrary to these pictures though, in person I do not look pregnant in this cardigan top. I tend to have that common issue all bloggers suffer; if it looks great in person, it will photograph like crap, but if it looks sort of wonky in person, it'll look okay in a photo. 

3/4 sleeved Top - Avenue
Cardigan - La Redoute
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Mossimo

I finally awoke...

I might have spent a good half of the weekend sleeping.  It was lovely, and I highly recommend it. I was actually useful today at work! Go second week! I did some time-consuming sneaky research work that produced good interrelated results on all but one search. (The work I do now isn't super-secret important or anything, but it does actually involve a great deal of personal information, so I'm going to try not to reveal any details on my blog.) I read Anne of Green Gables again, and cried when I got to the part about Matthew dying. I love Matthew so much. He's just the sweetest old man from any book (although he's only 60 at the start of the book, not nearly as old as I always thought of him). It had been years since I read it, although I watch the movie at least once a year if not more. The one thing I miss about the library is discussing books with people. You would think that research staff read too, but so far it doesn't really seem so. At least not with as much enthusiasm as me. Of course, the only person I know (outside of my former English major friends) who loves to read as much as I do is my tiny mama. We would read during meals if my dad didn't make such a fuss about it, and we do when it's just the two of us. I'm such a clone of my mama, right down to my bad temper! Of course, being like her suits me to a T.

Top - Avenue
Pants - Avenue
Evil Dorothy shoes - Mossimo

No-work Saturday

 Even though the office I work in is completely closed off from the public (and is actually off the main university campus), my boss is pretty strict about a professionally dressed environment. AKA no jeans, no leggings. But I now have actual normal-people weekends, so I celebrated by wearing leggings today when we went up to see my Nana. This is my mother's mother, and she had her 82nd birthday this week. We took a lunch and a cake, and sang to her. And afterwards, while Mama and Jen and Nana talked, I fell asleep on the loveseat. This working all week is hard stuff! Especially the first week, when you're all nervous, but you don't really have anything to do yet. Book tip: I'm reading Ken Jennings' (yes, the Jeopardy guy) book Brainiac and it's really quite good and funny and full of neat little trivia.

Top - Jessica London (super comfy)
Leggings - Avenue
Shoes - Dexter

Snapshot of Tiny Mama, squinting into the sun

Big Friday

So, at work they refer to Thursday as "Little Friday", which made today Big Friday. And tomorrow the day I finally get to sleep in. And I seriously need it! I've worked 8 of the last 9 days, which is a lot for a wimp like me.

Top - Avenue (actually a sleep top)
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Dexter
self-made jewelry

It went away...

I came home yesterday, wearing my cute little outfit, got my mama to take my picture, got settled down to do a blogger post and...no blogger. Waited...no blogger. Tried earlier today...no blogger. But now, it's back!! I'm several days behind on posts, though, so it will take me till tomorrow to properly comment on people's posts. I do have a working computer at work now.

I love these little ruffly suedey shoes. And even though it started raining at 4:30 yesterday, I just went over the 2nd floor bridge to the parking garage and stayed perfectly dry. Did I mention that we don't have to pay to park there?

shirt (in beautiful watercolor) - Avenue
professional business-like skirt - Avenue
cute shoes - Mossimo
self-made jewelry

My computer mocks me...

They haven't gotten my work computer up and running yet. The best part about my new job is that the other ladies thoroughly appreciate my cute shoes. Okay, maybe the best part is the benefits and the pay, but this is seriously a good part too. The women at the library noticed my shoes and clothes too, but you always worry when you start a new job about what everyone is thinking about your fashion sense. Since I'll have to be a tad dressier, I ordered (and got in today) some nice t-shirts. Good material, pretty colors, not just plain solids. They're from Avenue, and they make me think of watercolors. You'll see one this week, probably.

Top - thrifted short-sleeve sweater
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Mossimo
Necklace - a Christmas present from my mom

Yay new job!

It was a long first day, but well worth it. Everyone is very nice (and I would know if they weren't, there are only 7 of us in the department and 2 of us started today). It's just so nice to be out of the public service industry! (And if you don't believe libraries are a public service job, just try working in one for a few hours.) I'll be doing research for the university, up on the top floor of a building, and people keep telling me that no one ever comes up there but the researchers. It sounds like heaven! My mom works in a different area one floor down, so we can carpool together and eat together if we want (although 2 of the other women at work are around my age and we had a fun lunch today). The other woman who started with me is named Jennifer, just like my sister!

And one of my treats came in, a new ring from JewelMint, the "Metal Mosaic" ring that they brought back from out of stock. I can tell it's awesome because my mom made that scrunched up face when I asked her if it wasn't cool. The rest of my jewelry was me-assembled, including my lovely branch earrings and a new bracelet of faux coins that I put together from a link from Michael's.

This outfit is a two piece "suit" from Avenue. I love it because it's totally not a suit, just a matching top and pants. The top made me think Art Deco, how about you guys? It has awesome big sleeves that you can't really see here. I even wore boring grownup shoes with heels today. My feet hurt, of course. But I'm actually excited about going to work tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day!

I thought about joining in that whole Facebook "put up a picture of you and your mom to show how much you love her for the week leading up to Mother's Day". I didn't, because a) not a joiner, particular for FB things, and uh...b) I didn't have a picture of me and my mom. Okay, I have one: Mama, me, and Ellie at the beach, where Mama has her dress hiked up to avoid the waves, I have some doofy braids in, and cute little Ellie totally steals the show. And I don't need anyone else thinking she's mine. (She looks like me, acts like me, loves to cuddle me, and we moved back here after Jen had her. Last year, several older ladies wished me a happy mother's day.) So I got Jen to take a picture of me and Mama at lunch. As you see, we look just a bit alike!

We have a bit of a wisteria problem on our deck.

Top - Swimsuit coverup from Avenue

Tank top - Avenue

Pants- Land's End

Shoes - Dexter

Last two days of my old job!

I'm so proud; I've started to make less surprised/appalled/disgusted type faces and have moved into the sweet and demure face-making category. I think in real life I more often make evil overlord faces or distracted confused faces, though. I love this tunic so much, but until I get a real feel for the dress code at my new job (starting Monday!) I'm putting it at the metaphorical back of the closet. It's just a little too boobalicious, maybe. But part of that is just my natural super bust.

Tunic - Fashion to Figure
Leggings - umm, athletic-type ones?
Crocs - I found more of this style (Lily LJ Plaid in size 8) on Ebay! I put them on a watch list to buy once I get my paycheck. I'm super tempted to buy all four that I found, since all (plus shipping) would be equal to the cost of ONE pair of Fluevogs. And okay, I don't own any Fluevogs, but it's such a blogger type shoe that I feel like I can use it as a unit of measurement. And I wear the ones I have at least once a week....

This was today...my last day at the library! I'll miss my co-workers, but not getting up early on Saturdays. The world gave me back good stuff today; I ended up with a free lunch (due to a credit card machine breakdown) and I had the courage to finally snark back at a lazy, jacka** of a grad student (and had a guy come up later and tell me what a jerk the grad student had been to me). We went out to eat, it was delicious, and I'm superfull, but ready to hunker down and make my mom the jewelry she wants for Mother's Day.

Dress - thrifted decades ago
Leggings - White Stag
Shoes - Dexter

Friend Friday: Shoes!

1.What is your go-to pair of shoes?

This gorgeous pair of Crocs that everyone comments on, and is out of stock. I would buy them in every (pretty) color if they still had them, and I wear them at least once a week. Including today!

2. What goes into your shoe buying decisions?

Are they wide enough for my feet? Are they comfy? How much? (Hint: I'm a cheapskate, but the first two are the most important.)

3. The majority of the shoes in your closet are what color?


Black, followed by pastels and a few reds.

4. When it comes to designer shoes what are your favorite brands and why?


I don't buy designer shoes. But my favorite brand at the moment is Dexter. They make the cutest little boat shoes (preppy shoes).

I also like Mossimo shoes from Target, particularly their ballet-style flats.

5. If price wasn’t an issue, you’d own which shoe? 

Doc Martens and Fluevogs. And more Dexters.

Spending like a drunken sailor...

Aww...look how sweet and demure I look!  I did so much stuff at work today (cleaning up all my files/file-type stuff at the old job to make it nice and neat for the next person), had a chocolate cake brought in for me by one of my bosses, and just generally had a good day.

But. I keep buying stuff. And it's all little stuff, like a ring from JewelMint, or today's tee on TeeFury (it's a Doctor Who one with the Weeping Angels!), or ebooks for my Kindle (okay, the Kindle was a big purchase, but that was my pressie for finally getting a full-time job and it is incredibly addictive, even though just last year I was a total snot about them being lame). And I agree with Sal's post today about buying yourself nice things, so it's not really the things or the money. It's just that I'm still used to having no money (ie college student level of money, even though I'm turning 30 in July). And technically I won't start HAVING my salary for a few weeks. So I need to STOP BUYING EVERYTHING I LIKE JUST BECAUSE I ACTUALLY HAVE MONEY AND DON'T HAVE TO SPEND IT ALL ON HEALTH INSURANCE EVERY MONTH NOW.  Phew, time to take a breath. And then of course, I need to pay off my credit cards. Cranky face.

Oh look, I wore clothes today! They were comfy and mildly interesting!

Shirt - Avenue
Pants - White Stag
Shoes - Dexter

Cantata Sunday

Yes, these pictures are from all the way back on Sunday. We had our Easter Cantata (Yes, I know it was a week after Easter) and I wore my choir robe the whole service, so the focus was really on my hair. And didn't it end up nice? I'm so glad it's getting longer; there for awhile I couldn't hardly do anything with it. And you can see my nice silvery-white hairs that have popped out! Evidently, I'm going to go silver, not gray, and I'm doing it early. It's driving my mom to distraction, but my sister and I think it's cool. My grandmother has the most beautiful white hair, and has had all my life. I dyed my hair various shades of auburn (and a mistaken black) for a decade, from 16 to 26, but this is so much neater. How about you guys? When your hair turns silver/grey/white, will you dye it?
  

Yesterday was a pretty good day.

Isn't this a cool necklace? I joined Send the Trend, and some of the stuff is cool, some lame, just like you would expect. BUT, this necklace is just what I wanted. I wanted it right after I got my new job for sure, but it was sold out. I looked the other day and it was back in, so I snapped that puppy right up.

And a day with an awesome necklace, good food for lunch (pretzel crisps are yummy!), an extra coke kicking out of the machine when I bought one, and finding Mary Roach's new book "Packing for Mars" on the shelf while I was at work...all this made my usually boring Saturday very nice indeed!

Top - Avenue
Jeans that are horribly designed (for me) and require a super belt to cinch in the waist - Avenue
Shoes - Dexter