Pattern Pre-mixed and (non)-Christmas Color-blocking

Country chic

 A co-worker complimented me on this dress, telling me I was totally in, with the whole pattern mixing thing my dress had going on. The truth is, I've had this dress for years, and seeing as how it was thrifted then, it's probably much older! Trends come and go, but they're the same trends every few years - military, neon, soft fluffy stuff (ultra girly), preppy, etc. It's getting darker in the mornings now, so I might have to move inside for pictures for the fall/winter.

My little teapot necklace.

This necklace was one of the first ones I pieced together, and I still love it. "The shape of the teapot is pleasing to my eye", she said in a snobby voice.

Cardi and Top - Avenue, Jeans - Simply Be, Shoes - Dexter.

 I work at a university, and when it's a Friday football game-day, we're encouraged to dress in the school colors. But. Those include orange, which (a) I dislike, especially on myself, and (b) I don't own a single orange garment. So I just wear whatever I want, because really, I don't care about football anyway. I went to every single high school football game, since I was in the band, but I have no idea how a game is scored.

Fancy Non-blazer

Obviously, this jacket from yesterday is not a blazer, due to my dislike of blazers. It's a tweedy sort of avant-garde twist on a lady's hunt jacket. I might get the back tailored a bit, since I have some room around the waist, but a size down would probably be too tight around the bust. This jacket also has the most beautiful buttons ever, two sorts alternating all over.

Joe Browns Parisian Jacket

Today was warmer and not rainy (yet!), so I'm only slightly bundled up. Have I mentioned how much I love Fall and my ability to layer and wear sweaters?

Cardi and Top - Avenue, Pants - Denim 24/7.

Last night I just fell into bed, so it was one of the few times that I picked out my outfit in the morning (barring outfit complications, of course). I have no theme, or inspiration for this outfit, just colors I like and a pair of clean pants that fit. Random outfits often seem to work better than planned ones for me!

I sometimes use curse words when I pray*

Dress - Joe Browns, Leggings - Avenue, Socks - Sock Dreams, Shoes - Crocs.

Proportions are all in the eye of the beholder. I love this dress, but it has less room in the bust than I expected, turning it into more of an empire waist than I had expected. I asked my father if it made me look a little chunky, because it's not fitted the way most of my other favorite dresses are, even the empire waists. And my father looked closely at me, and promptly told me yes, I did look a little chunkier than usual in it. Which, as you might expect, was not the answer I was looking for. Then at lunch at work, a random office co-worker told me how small I was getting! (Not really a comment I ever go looking for, actually, but one that was helpful today.) I explained to her that I'm just hourglassy, so it depends on what I wear as to how I look.

Here

And that's precisely true; I have a comparatively small waist, so dresses with empire waistlines like this one (aka without ties or belts) can obscure my waist, leaving only my bust and hips as the outstanding viewpoints. The dress is made of cotton, but the pattern makes me think of all of Sal's Desigual dresses, which are too expensive for me (and don't even come in my size, anyway). Thus endeth the ramble, because I have nothing more to say so far today, other than I'm going to Looper tonight. 

*And also the post title is from the Avett Brothers song "Me and God".

Fave Friday Stuff

Cardi - Simply Be, Top - Avenue, Pants - Lands End, Shoes - Dexter, Necklace - Self-made.

My sister and I have been taking her munchkins to Friday night movies fairly often this summer. We go to Cookout and then to the cheap theatre for an animated movie. We've seen ParaNorman (excellent!), Brave (ditto), The Avengers (the whole family went for that) and tonight we're going to see Hotel Transylvania. I'm not expecting it to be as good as the other two, but hopefully it'll be good.



Also, I've gotten fairly hooked on the Avett Brothers. They're...very Appalachian folk rock, I guess would be the best way to describe them? So I now have a 7 hour Spotify playlist of their stuff to entertain me during the day. This is a good little video to give you an idea of what they sound like. Sometimes. Also, they have beards of hilarity. Truthfully, I don't know if I could have listened seriously from the start if I knew that one was sporting that much of a mountain man beard.

A to Z of Me

I just started following Kristen Marie, and I really liked the A-Z blog post, so since my outfit post is totally uninspiring, I'm stealing this idea for today.

Silver hairs!

A. Age: 31
B. Bed size: Full
C. Chore that you hate: Dishes. And sweeping.
D. Dogs: are nice for OTHER people.
E. Essential start to your day: Kiss my niece (the nephew is too cool to kiss anyone but his mama).
F. Favorite color: TARDIS blue, grey, lavender, black...
G. Gold or Silver: Silver and bronze.
H. Height: 5'4"
I. Instruments you play: I played a bunch of instruments in high school, but I'm sorely out of practice: trumpet, French Horn, mellophone, and piano. And I still sing.
J. Job title: Research Analyst.
K. Kids: Not a chance.
L. Live: In Virginia, in the Appalachian Mountains.
M. Mother's name: Little Mama, aka Louellen.
N. Nicknames: Erinfer (since my sister is Jennifer), Ellie (my niece's name).
O. Overnight hospital stays: After my first seizure.
P. Pet peeves: Late people, mean people, deliberate stupidity.
Q: Quote from a movie:  "You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here...You can't change that by getting all... bendy." Firefly, The Train Job (Ep. 2)
R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: 1 big sister.
U. Underwear: Seamless regular panties.
V. Vegetable you hate: Water chestnuts, beans.
W. What makes you run late: Other people!
X. X-Rays you've had: Both arms (broken), numerous MRIs and CAT scans as well.
Y. Yummy food that you make: Brownies, cookies. I make great sweets!
Z. Zoo animal: Elephant.

Accessories make all the difference

This outfit of a black t-shirt (Avenue) and a pair of pair of red jeans (Simply Be) is fine on it's own. But add all my accoutrements, and it turns it into something interesting! My two necklaces (and matching bracelet that's hidden by my sleeve) are a dark sparkly blue. My cardi (Simply Be) is an army green for some color blocking fun. (You know, before color blocking became a thing, it was really just known as "not wearing patterns, but wearing several different colors".)

Dexter shoes - Dexflex line

 Yeah, yeah, I know you can see my little no-show socks. But really, when I have shoes as awesome as these little cap-toe leopard flats, is anyone going to notice? They're the perfect rocking little shoe and super comfy as well.

Notice all those lovely silver hairs? I rock them like no one's business!

 My sister had all of these hair forks in her stuff from when she had long hair (most of her life), and has lent them to me while she grows her hair back out. Since I sit at my desk with headphones on most of the day, I want my hair back, but I also want it to be pretty. And a fancy hair fork does a much better job than a simple hair elastic. Going without headphones - it would drive me crazy! I am not one to suffer silence well, and in my little open cubicle, speakers are not really an option. So I have a pair of big, old-fashioned supra-aural headphones which would ruin any hairstyle that was left down. (Bonus - these are better for your hearing health than earbuds.)

Zoya nail polish in Marley

I'm a big fan of Zoya nail polish. It comes in a bajillion different colors, and it's $8 a bottle. I get mine from Birchbox, but you can order direct from the Zoya website as well. They give great coverage (in just 2 coats), dry ultra quick, and they're toxin free (no toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, or dibutyl phthalate).

Simply Be Addict

Cardi and Top - Simply Be, Pants - Denim 24/7, Shoes - TOMS.

*Note: I am not shilling for Simply Be and being paid. I just think that they make better quality clothes than most companies, and have some really interesting things.

Assuming that you read my blog instead of just looking at the pictures, you know that I'm a complete Simply Be addict. It's BRITISH PLUS SIZE FASHION. How could I not love it?! But I realized that I've been neglecting to fully tell everyone about the size ranges. See, my sister is small - as in she wears a size small. So she never gets anything from Simply Be, it's my company. My sister just thrifts her little heart out, because she can always find stuff. But Simply Be actually has a huge size range. They say on their front page that they carry size 10-28. And that's true. But they have a limited selection of their clothes, also, that go from sizes 8-30. So the majority of you could probably enjoy some of the same stuff that I do! And the rest of you could enjoy the shoes, bags, and jewelry that they carry. Also, I do believe in supporting a company that shows all of their clothes on plus-size models. 

Slouch Jersey Top in Damson

This top is so lovely and silky; a really great little tee. The damson is only still available in size 20, but the black and the white are available in a number of sizes. The top has a wide scoop neck, but it actually manages to NOT show my bra straps! I haven't washed it yet, so I have no report back on that front yet. If they had it in more actual colors, I would snap it up in a heartbeat. And yes, those pants are fairly hideous.

Sweaters are my friend!

My family - at least the female part - has a very close relationship with sweaters. My mother has reams and reams of sweaters in her wardrobe, just like all three of her sisters, her mother, my sister, and me. We all get cold quickly, so sweaters are our natural habitat. I love sweaters, cardigans, vests, etc. I keep trying to convince my mother that cardigans are the new blazer, but she doesn't believe me (or just loves blazers more, I haven't decided). All this fall and winter, you'll be seeing tons of sweaters and cardis from me. I have two big plastic bins packed full of them, and I'm getting ready to switch them out with my sleeveless items in the closet.

Sweater - Simply Be, Pants - Walmart, Shirt - unknown, Socks - Sock Dreams, Shoes - Dexter.

Rock me mama like a wagon wheel

Purple Sock Dreams socks - you know you want them.

Yay for sock weather and little button shoes!

Sweater - Simply Be, Pants - Lands End, Shoes - Target.

It's still mostly sweater weather! Meaning that it might get warm today, and I have a t-shirt ready in case I start to burn up on the way home. Luckily, my office is still freezing - I'm actually wearing a cardigan OVER this sweater at the moment. I really need to shave my legs, because I have a new sweater skirt and Joe Browns long sleeved dress that I want to wear.

 Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess) posted this video yesterday, and it is amazing. Beautiful, inspirational, awesome...stop reading my babbling and listen to it, then go read the Bloggess' blog for the rest of your life if you don't already.