Winter is coming

My niece is starting to show signs that she'll be all lean and lanky as she grows up. Look at her, all adorable in her little sundress! She'll be 7 in 3 weeks (boo). I ordered a ton of stretch elastic that came in yesterday, so we've started making some hair ties (like the Twist Bands, but DIY). I bought 20 yards of elastic, which would make 80 hair ties if we don't screw any up or decide to make some headbands. That's a ton! Enough to not worry about losing, plus, I bought a ton of colors, even orange for Halloween. You can see the blue one on my wrist to put my hair back once I got to work.

I painted my nails, too. This color came in a Birchbox, and I just kept not getting around to it. It's called "Put a Pin In It" and is a sort of rosy-gold metallic sparkly. I don't usually like the Color Club colors, but this one was cute and it dried very quickly. Which was fantastic, since I randomly decided to paint my nails this morning after getting dressed.

From some weird confluence of Hurricane Sandy and a winter storm, it's supposed to go from very warm today (77, which is warm for the VA mountains) to 38 with possible snow by next Tuesday. I really do need to shift my closet this weekend from warm-weather clothes to sweaters.

Sweater - Target, Pants - Denim 24/7, Shoes - Dexter, Necklace - Send the Trend.

Bits and Pieces and Nails and Socks

 Two weekends ago, I bought a brand-new set of living room furniture for the upstairs. It is completely gorgeous, and had the added benefit of making me feel like an actual grownup. I got a big couch, a nice chair, and a loveseat (or as my niece calls it, a love chair). I have banned the munchkins from using markers while sitting on them/eating on them/wearing shoes on them. Due to awkwardness and previous spilling, I've also banned my sister and mother from drinking wine on them. You can think I'm harsh, but I spent almost a paycheck on beige corduroy, and I'm going to try and keep them clean for at least a month!

 This nail polish is by Zoya, and it came in my Birchbox for January. I'm not fantastically excited about the color - I generally like much darker or just a hint of color - but so far I haven't had any chips, and I'm three days in. This is a miracle! My sister says it's due to the Sally Hansen top coat she used, but I'm just happy they didn't chip immediately.

Mia and Tia, I know you both will be completely enviously of my lovely fluffy socks from Sock Dreams! They're the Space Dyed Terry Shorties, and they are so nicely warm and adorable.

Sweater - Target, Pants - Lands End, Socks - Sock Dreams, Shoes - Earth Spirit, Nail Polish - Zoya, Necklace - self-made.

Matte.

I discovered (on Pinterest) that I love the look of matte nails. I got myself some flat matte black nail polish from Avon, and my sister got me matte red nail polish (with sparkles! matte WITH sparkles!) from...um...Revlon? that was on sale somewhere. We did my nails yesterday. I love the look, but I need to get a matte top coat (and I have a list of types to look for), because I've never been able to keep a manicure for more than a few days without a top coat. But matte nail polish is ridiculous! I did the dishes - it chipped. I TOOK A SHOWER AND IT CHIPPED! Now I know why people often have a shiny tip a la french manicure, so that their tips don't immediately chip.  I decided to go with a very simple outfit today, since my nails might be a bit outre for a conventional office.

Top - Avenue, Pants - White Stag, Shoes - Dexter, Ring - JewelMint.