May wish list

Wish list is back! Last month's wist list is still 2/3 wishes; I did purchase the curling shoes. We'll see what I end up with this month!



This tunic from Boden is near the top of my wish list, just below last month's eShakti dress. I am loving jade right now and it's one of those colours that works with every skin tone. I think the top four are jade, navy, cranberry and plum. Jewel tones! Anyway, how cute would this dress be with a braided belt and some platform wedges? Which are also huge this season. I'm going to Savannah in June so I think this will have to go with me.



Yeah, here's the thing. I have an LG Env2 and it's great but it is also OLD and half the buttons on the front don't even work. It's paid its dues. I want to upgrade to a smartphone before my trip to New York (I don't travel as much as you think!) and right now I'm liking the look of the Droid Incredible 2. How can you not like a phone named Incredible, right? Smartphone suggestions welcome, I'm with Verizon and I don't really want an iPhone. I'm also a moron when it comes to phones.



Tis the season to plant plants! Last year we planted tomato plants (the Cardigans are big fans of tomatoes) and they did horribly. Fortunately it wasn't just us, the whole area had a rough tomato season, but we're avoiding it this year with MATER MAGIC. I hope anyway. I already bought & used Mater Magic so really this wish is more that it actually works, so keep your fingers crossed for me.



Wait! One more! Peter Pan collar AND pink? LL Bean Signature hit the nail on the head.

What do you covet for May?

inverted bell curve of life

Top: JCPenney
Jeans: Walmart
Boots: Target


Look familiar?

Today started Wonderfully, dropped down to Real Bad in the middle, then swooped back up to A-Ok by the end. I rode my horse this morning and he was A++ Superhorse, which made me very proud. Then I was late for work, and then at dinner break I locked myself out of my car. WOMP WOMP. My mom, awesome mom that she is, drove my spare key to me and I was only half an hour late back from lunch.



I was all ready to give up on the night, but I remembered that today was payday (holler) and that made me happy. And I managed to boar through almost 50 pages of my book, which is fast becoming my greatest literary undertaking since reading War and Peace.

And then I saw Bea's hat and all was right with the world again.

Attention: Google Reader users

If you use Google Reader and you're having a problem viewing my posts in full, please email me at animatedcardigan@gmail.com. A couple readers have notified me that my posts aren't displaying correctly in Google Reader. If you can't comment, pictures aren't showing up, etc. pleaaaaaaase let me know! Thanks :)

Update: Commenting problems are a Known Issue for Blogger that has popped up over the last couple of days. I've opened a Help request with Google Reader in an attempt to address the missing pictures. Thanks for being patient!

Inspired by

Scarf: Target?
Cardigan: Target
Top: JCPenney
Corduroys: LL Bean
Wedges: Target



First of all, I'm in Kimberly's monthly inspiration calendar! I am amazed by all the brilliant outfits this month--spring definitely brings out the best in people!

Ever since From Suns to Moons posted this outfit inspired by the one and only Andy Bernard from The Office, I've had the colour combo in the outfit queue. However I thought it wasn't nearly enough absurd vibrancy so I wore pink pants too. Nude wedges make it all okay, right?

RIGHT?!



Then I made my best Meredith face and went home for a nap.

There's so much inspiration in this post I can hardly stand it all.

How about that

Cardiganland is trapped under a tornado watch tonight, and as such my internet is ridiculous and Flickr refuses to upload any pictures. So I'll stash today's pictures for a rainy day and instead you're getting a picture I took of a bookstore in Chicago.

Back with regular posts Thursday night, I hope!

Gnawing on branches

Necklace: Anthro
Top: JCPenney
Pants: JCPenney
Flats: Target



It was 9 million degrees outside and my mom and I planted tomato and cucumber plants in the heat and bugs and I was sweaty and dirty and I'm pretty sure I swallowed some tomato plant food at one point today. I don't know if that's safe but Mater Magic claims to be all organic so I'm probably not going to die.



Do you remember when you were a little kid and ate stuff you weren't supposed to? I chewed on staples. Way weird and probably dangerous--I swallowed one in kindergarten once and freaked out for DAYS that the staple was going to cut a hole in my heart. Obviously I had not yet learned how the digestive system worked. One time I also swallowed a thumbtack and THAT scared me a lot more than the staple, and my wise-beyond-her-years-five-year-old self swore of chewing on anything metallic.

Funny, though, I never picked up on chewing gum.

In the details

Top: Target
Belt: Target
Skirt: JCPenney
Wedges: Target
Nail polish: Sephora by OPI Caliente Coral



Details, details, details.



Details means this skirt took half my hemming tape to fix a pulled thread that undid 90% of the hem. Details means my nail polish almost matches the orange in my shirt, but not quite. Details means not noticing that for some unknown reason my hair is falling out way more than normal.



Details means Gmail recommends including my three other best friends on my email list when I try to email one. Details means the waitress put an extra sprig of rosemary in my leftovers to add flavour to the pasta. Details means this beautiful wall exists.

It's all in the details, y'all.


OH MY GOD IS THAT A FARMER'S TAN?!

Meal plan & pearls winner!

Necklace: JCPenney
Top: Target
Skirt: Gap
Flats: Target



Sick of this skirt yet? I'm not. Also, if you think this is a carbon copy of this outfit, that's because it is. I had to scrape together something quick/easy to wear to dinner, and this was it. My dad finally conned me out of a free meal thanks to my tax return. He tried to pay the tip but I wouldn't let him, and now he feels guilty. Mission accomplished!



Also, as promised, here's the winner of the pearls:



That's Elle! Yaaaaaaaaaay! She's been contacted. Congrats Elle! And as a "bonus" I will be stealing styling her outfit idea this coming Friday. It's gonna rock.

See y'all tomorrow maybe. If not, have a wonderful Easter (or as it's known in Cardiganland, "Hamster")!

What goes up

Necklace: wapa on Etsy
Cardigan: Boden
Jeans: Gap
Socks: Old Navy (way old)
Flats: Target via ebay
Nails: Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne



Happy Earth Day, y'all! Flickr was a big ol' jerkface today and I had a hard time editing my photos, which is why this post is going up soooo late.



If you all haven't noticed (honestly, you should have by now), my hair is a beast. It's something else. Now that I have my hair screws (I know they're called "spin pins" but hair screws sounds so much cooler) I thought I'd take a bit out of this hairstyle. Mine was minus the hairspray, because my hair gets mad if I use that stuff.



Pretty good, right? I like how it looks, even though my buns are WAY bigger than the model's. There's a third one on the right side of my head, you just can't see it! I swear it's there.

Also, my dinner at Panera was free tonight. I love that Panera card. It is #1 in my heart! And I just saw a rerun of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon singing Friday. Remember when Jimmy Fallon was new and not good? Not anymore, y'all.

Giveaway winner will be announced tomorrow! I hope it's you ;)

Don't ask, don't tell

Pearls: JCPenney (this is your last day to enter to win!)
Top: Target
Skirt: Boden
Wedges: Target
Nails: Zoya Marley



Do I look like I belong in AKA? I probably do.

I love this skirt, don't you? The colour's amazing, the pattern's amazing, the line it makes is amazing. But see where the hem is? Below my knee. And see where the waist is? Hip slung. It's too big. I'm going to keep it and stitch in a couple pleats at the front to bring it up to my waist, which is where you all know I like my skirts. But what is that? I'm now looking through old blog pictures to see if I've lost weight. I'll admit I've started drinking a ton more water (welcome back to my life, Crystal Light!) and I've been riding a lot but I don't think I've lost weight. Oh well, pleats here we come!



Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how I'm probably going to jail for this picture. There's an (I assume!) small abandoned building on Main Street in Cardiganland with a blown open front and wide open back, and massive windows (boarded up, obv). I've loved this little building since I moved here and finally found time to peek in. It's perfect for inclement weather and midday shoots because it's out of the sun but there's still plenty of light.

So I went in and had a good time taking my pictures. When I came out, there was a red truck parked next to my car (the building is next to the town bank) and there was a woman at the wheel making a snarly face at me and a man writing something down. As I walked into my car they pulled out of the lot and parked in the church lot next door. My worse-comes-to-worst brain boiled up the idea that he was writing down my license plate number and they're going to report me to Cardiganland Public Safety. Kind of lame if they do, because I'm probably the only trespasser who didn't take anything or damage the property!

New topic: Help me figure out how to explain a style blog to the cops when they undoubtedly throw me in the slammer.

Let's talk ebooks

Cardigan: Target
Top: Target
Skirt: JCPenney
Wedges: Target



Last night my coworker T. and I went to Denny's, where she was joyfully crowned mayor by Foursquare. Isn't that exciting? Well, kind of. Technically I'm mayor too because every time she's been there in the last month, I have been there and she has taken a picture of me and posted it on Foursquare. Almost as great as Baconalia itself.



In other, slightly less fried news: Amazon's Kindle will be "unlocked" later this year, allowing customers to download ebooks from library websites. There are a lot of questions still to be answered but this is a positive step forward for the e-resource industry!



Grad school looms tiny on the horizon but I know the closer I get to it the larger it will become. I work in AV and I really, really want to be an AV or e-resources librarian, which is partly due to the department Nook. It's kind of fascinating, the way the technology world is changing. Which means the publishing world is changing, and in turn the library world changes. My library system recently purged all their tapes while adding a ton of e-resources.

I know this is all really uninteresting but I can't help it! It's better than my talking about bacon for two paragraphs.

Oh yeah! Also--I received my first question on Formspring! How exciting. If you have a question for me, feel free to ask. Or email me. OR leave a comment. You know, whatever.

I will hold out hope

Scarf: Target
Top: Target (men's)
Skirt: Gap
Wedges: Target



It seems that every time I wear this skirt, I have nothing at all to say! So I'm just going to write random stuff.

I spent five minutes fussing with my scarf and still couldn't make it look the way I wanted.
A tick just crawled across my computer screen. I flushed it. (It's officially spring.)
I bought six boxes of Crystal Light and $48 worth of gasoline. Gas prices are a real downer these days.
Don't forget to enter the giveaway. Tell your friends. Or don't, because I know you want to win. So never mind!



I rode my horse today and he was wonderful. Maybe I should have ridden him to work instead of driving my car.
I have spent weeks looking for my hair screws and can't find them so I bought more. Not on Amazon though, those are way overpriced!
I went to the eye doctor and had my pupils dilated for the first time. Everyone lied to me about being sensitive to light because I waltzed out into the sun with no problems. I got a sexy pair of old people shades for my trouble.

I am tired. See y'all tomorrow!

Scouting

Top: TJMaxx
Dress: Target
Tights: Target
Wedges: Target



I STILL cannot wear heels! My toe is healing much more slowly than I thought, and that kind of sucks. I really wanted to wear my tan Target wedges with this outfit but the vamp crosses right over the bruise. Oh well



I don't know what's normal for you, but on the average morning, I pry myself out of bed at 8:23am, wash my face, put on my outfit and I'm out the door by 8:45 (I shower at night so I can stay in bed as long as possible). This morning I was lucky enough to wake up at 6:47am because I had to haul our kitten to the humane society for her snip snip operation. After that I spent a good half hour driving around downtown, looking for a new, unique photo location. I wasn't very lucky, and I pulled into a parking lot to turn around and BAM WILL YOU LOOK AT THIS MURAL?! Luck and a half, right? It's on the back of an abandoned building adjacent to a walking trail, so the mural must have been added post-trail for some colour. Amazing.



I have to admit that this blog has helped me feel a lot more comfortable where I live. I moved to Cardiganland five and a half years ago and spent three of those years in college in Virginia, and I still get lost and make wrong turns sometimes. Sniffing out locations in my area and finding some of the amazing hidden artwork (I actually found two other possible locations while heading back from this one) has made me feel more at home in a place where I sometimes have a very hard time living.

See y'all tomorrow.



PS. Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Weekend wear

Cardigan: Anthropologie
Shirt: Target
Jeans: Gap
Flats: Target via eBay



My mom and I went out to dinner last night and she insisted on taking outfit pictures. So above is what I wore to dinner, and below is what I wore today to work! If you look closely at the close up below, you'll see a Volvo in the background. That was my tripod for the first three months of this blog!



Necklace: JCPenney (enter to win it!)
Top: Target
Jeans: Gap
Flats: Target



See y'all tomorrow.