On the count of three

Top: JCPenney
Belt: Target
Skirt: JCPenney
Wedges: Target



Three little facts, as cleverly developed by Rebecca...because it's easier than coming up with a real post topic. Especially since I have to go back to work in an hour!



Favourite new fall tv shows Person of Interest, Revenge, New Girl

Currently sore right leg teardrop

September's financial gain opening a 401(k)

Et tu, Phaedra?

Top: JCPenney
Cords: LL Bean
Boots: Target



As a Latin major in college (read: BIG NERD), I keep up to date with a lot of the mythology spoofs and adaptations that come out, both in book and movie form. So I guess I was kind of surprised to see the trailer for Immortals during football tonight. I've never heard of it, and now I'm disappointed in myself for not keeping better tabs on all this whatnot.



And then I remember Troy and Clash of the Titans and how badly both those movies sucked. Come on, Troy, the Trojan War was seven years long, not seven days. I'm writing a letter. And I decide that it's okay for me to probably not see Immortals after all. I'd rather see The Ides of March (totally not about Julius Caesar, as it turns out) instead.

Go forth and Kindle

Shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: handmade
Tights: Target
Boots: Target



Today's work heavily outweighed yesterday's work--one of my favourite patrons came in for a downloadables troubleshooting session, which I was able to fix, & she was extremely thankful for it. And today Kindle went live in over 11,000 public libraries, including mine! I spent most of the morning acquainting myself with the setup, which is crazy easy, especially compared to our existing setup. I dig it.



And most important, TIGHTS WEATHER. Okay, not really--it was 75 when I took these pictures--but I am not waiting for the weather to match my outfits anymore. Who cares if I'm sweating and my hair has picked 500 ways to frizz? Because I look awesome and this location is awesome. AWESOME. I'll be back, abandoned mill surrounded by kudzu in the middle of the nature preserve. I'll be back.

The best way to avoid what you don't want to discuss

Necklace: wapa on Etsy
Cardigan: JCPenney
Dress: Anthropologie
Belt: Walmart
Wedges: Payless



I hate to say it but I had a really rough day at work, and it's not something a) I feel like reliving or b) want to think about. So instead we're going to talk about the weather! It poured down rain today, which was wonderful--we need the rain so, so badly. It is also now about 2 degrees cooler than it was last week. That's pretty sweet. How's the weather where you are?

The importance of being a turtle saver

Cardigan: Gap
Top: Anthropologie
Skirt: JCPenney
Wedges: Shoe Carnival



I lived on the coast of New Jersey growing up, which is a very marshy, wetlands-y area. We often drove across the marshes to get mainland, where the mall, our barn, the doctor's office, and other hot spots of my life were located. One specific road traveled over protected wetlands, and as such state law required that when wildlife--especially turtles, though it covered birds and whatever else came around--entered the roadway, drivers either had to wait for the animal to cross or had to assist with their crossing. Turtles often had to be carried across the road for traffic flow to continue. (Ospreys and the like...well, you just had to be patient.)



This is so engrained in my mind as a rule of life that today, when twice my car crossed the path of a turtle, I slammed on the brakes, backed up, leapt out of my car and grabbed the turtle and placed him/her on the other side of the road the turtle was aiming for. I've seen crushed turtle shells on roads here and it breaks my heart times a million, so I always stop and assist. Always. Forgive me for my major devotion to turtle welfare, forcing cars to go around me or wait, but no turtle (really, no animal) should ever live in fear of crossing the road. And they're always thankful, I think, even though they shrink in fear when they see me coming. They probably can't handle all the pattern mixing, and for that I can't really blame them. It's a lot for a tiny turtle to absorb so quickly--they do move at a much slower pace, after all.

Feelin' slick

Necklaces: JCPenney
Top: Target
Belt: Target
Skirt: thrifted
Wedges: Target



Forget about all that seriousness from my last post and let's get back to the silliness of my life, shall we? Over the weekend I was crazy busy drinking three whole beers and getting seared by the sun at the Auburn-Clemson football game. Amazing. I and fortunate that my makeup covered my sunburn, because there is a stripe across my hairline (?!) that is so burnt, as well as my nose and chest. My chest feels like this right now, and every time I bend it hurts. It's great!



My coworker P. is having epic leg envy of me. She loves the "even tone" of my calves and she's always asking if I'm wearing hose. Hose? Really? Does that stuff even still exist? And now she wants to know how she can get shiny model legs. So we Googled it. I always wondered myself how I too could have shiny legs, and good news: baby oil. Because I really want to grease up my stems and be leaving oil marks on everything. Oh, the tough sacrifices I'll have to make to look like Barbie. Bleaching my hair out and having cornea transplants will be easy, but slip sliding all over with my model legs will NOT.

A promise this way

Top: Anthropologie
Skirt: handmade, pattern Simplicity 2512
Booties: Enzo Angiolini



On Monday I'll tell you all about the insanity of my weekend, but I really want to get serious for a hot second and discuss the Anthroholic scandal. Because it's important to clarify, contemplate, and learn from the situation. I've never had any interactions with Anthroholic, aside from being a reader and being in her Anthro reader outfits compilations a couple times.

First, I'm appalled. I honestly can't believe that someone with enough clout to be popular in the Anthro blogging world (a tiny but devoted one) could be so scheming, but as time goes by and more women come forward it's becoming clearer and clearer that in all likelihood, Kim knowingly took money without rendering her services valid and, as my friend A. said, essentially used others as a line of credit. I don't feel bad for her or pity her situation, especially as it has happened before; I feel terribly for the women (and men!) she misled who had to spend so much time and money to receive nothing but lies and denial in return. (No one loses 50+ emails. No one.)

But beyond that, something deeper cut into me as I watched from the sidelines as this disaster unfolded. Reading the comments, hearing how much money was lost and how many people were fooled, I (and A.) realised that we were all conned, not just the people who used the service. We were all tricked into believing things were normal and honest with Kim, and things really weren't. At all. For some reason I started to feel like burning my clothes and never setting foot inside a store again. The pursuit of pretty things has ruined Kim's reputation, it has crushed the Anthro blogging community, it has taken away a delicate balance of trust. Before this came to light, I had planned to order a couple bottles of my currently hard-to-find shampoo, and days later, I still haven't. I don't know why but I can't pull the trigger. It's like I'm suddenly over shopping, even when it comes to shampoo. Because do I really need special dandruff shampoo? (Okay, yeah, I do. Good point.) The only thing I've bought in the last week aside form food and gas is a disposable camera for a local art project.



Introspection after this issue overwhelmingly & explosively unfolded led me to realise that I shop too much. I do, I really do. I recently purged my closet (and I should've offered my clothing to whomever wanted it here before donating it to Goodwill! Duh, next time) and got rid of over 30 items I didn't wear, didn't like, didn't fit, didn't want, etc. But that's really not enough. I have a closet, I have a lot of clothing. I don't need much more to make it complete.

So for the rest of the year, I'm taking a vow to buy only the following things, which are the only things left on my list for a complete closet, which would be equivalent to two items per month:

Black long sleeve knit/sweater turtleneck

Cream skirt

Red skirt

18" gold chain

Tie-neck blouse

UO suede heels

And if it's not on this list, I don't need it. It's unnecessary. Just because I like something doesn't mean I need it. If I miss EBEW because I don't own an item, so be it. (This doesn't include clothing "emergencies", eg. needing a suit for a job interview or presentation. I don't plan on this happening though.) I have many pretty things and rather than focusing on that, I can focus on so many other things. I'll save time not looking at my Anthro wishlist, not sweeping all the online stores for whatever, not constantly on the lookout for the next pretty thing. I have enough going on in my life (grad school apps, curling, riding, working) that not being distracted my shopping will be good for me. This list doesn't include handmade items, but maybe I'll make a handmade red skirt and I can cross that off the list.

It's time to take a stand against myself, and here is where it starts. This outfit underscores that--my final purchase from Anthro for the year, this top (which I admittedly love and is amazingly comfortable & cute); my skirt, another handmade concoction that I love and cost a total of $19 to make; and my boots, which are ushering in a new season (fall, at least for now) and a new concept of style and how it operates in my life. Trim the fat, find the essentials, and move on.

Let's do it. And by let's, I mean me. You do whatever you want! But please, tell me what you think about the Anthroholic ordeal. Did you know about it? Has it changed how you look at shopping?

Whoop, hair it is

Top: JCPenney
Skirt: JCPenney
Wedges: Target



I've been curious lately to see what's happened to my hair when I wake up every morning. It's been rather unpredictable lately--not that I do anything with my hair to make it predictable; one of my favourite things about my hair is that no matter how I wake up in the morning, when I walk out the door my hair looks however it wants and that's awesome.



Today it was entirely untrainable and huge, so I rolled with it. I just put a bit of hair stray on the top so it didn't move too much. Other days it's nearly straight and flat and generally when that happens all I can do is put it in a bun. It doesn't look that great without volume, I don't think. The spectrum of variety is weird but on the bright side it's like Christmas every morning. Except without gifts. And plus dandruff. So really it's not like Christmas at all.

Full circle

Barrette: Anthropologie
Top: Gap
Belt: Target
Pants: JCPenney
Wedges: Target



I'm fairly certain this barrette is the first thing I've ever bought at Anthro for full price. It was $24. Right? For a friggin' barrette. But this is also the first barrette I've bought in...well, I can't remember the last time that happened, and I am thrilled that barrettes are in fact fantastic for getting my hair out of my face. Who knew?



Something else I learned from my barrette today: I have gray hairs on both sides of my head! I have about 10 (at least?) at my part, but pulling back some of my hair on the right side of my head revealed two little nupers a couple inches above my ear. I'm assuming they popped up from the added stress of being a fashion blogger in these trying times. Or from the cost of this barrette. See, it's the circle of life!

Your pants are the same colour as my car

Scarf: TJMaxx?
Top: Target
Pants: LL Bean
Heels: Anthropologie



In case you haven't seen enough coloured pants today, HERE ARE SOME MORE! In addition to being shockingly yellow, these pants are also slightly altered--I pinned them inside so they are not bootcut but skinny/straight leg. I like them this way, but at the same time, I felt almost exposed. I can do either bright pants or straight leg pants, but both is like drawing a blatantly obvious line around my silhouette and screaming "look at the lower half of my body! PLEASE!"



The title of this post refers to a comment I received this evening from a patron. And it's true! I saw the car in the parking lot on my way in. It's hard to miss. There are some M&Ms painted on the sides.



Maybe I should have some M&Ms on my pants. Yes? Yes!

Thanks for the positive reinforcement

Top: Anthropologie
Skirt: JCPenney
Wedges: Target



Sometimes a plain outfit is what I need. I thought this was pretty plain--skirt, shoes, top, no accessories and very rare lack of pizzazz--but for some reason it still caused the following exchange to occur between myself and a regular patron this afternoon:

"Miss Jessica?"
"Yes?"
"I just have to tell you something, and I hope this isn't strange, but you just dress so lovely!"
"Oh, thank you, Mr. A!"
"You know, that striped dress and pink sweater you wore last week...it was such an odd combination, but it worked!"
"Umm, thanks!"
"I was talking to A. (coworker of mine) upstairs, you know her, right? I said, you bigger girls, you don't have a problem showing your curves, and I like that! You really know how to dress in a flattering way, and you always look so together."



Well, there you go. Obviously the man has not seen me fresh out of bed in the morning because I'm about as far from together or lovely as humanly possible.
Also, above is my first ever competitive curling pin. I received it for playing against (and winning!) PCC, which is pretty amazing. It was a great time and I'm thrilled that we performed extremely well. Yay!

Frustration nation

Cardigan: Target
Top: Anthropologie
Shorts: Target
Tights: We Love Colors
Booties: Enzo Angiolini



Here's the deal. I had yesterday off. Last night was my first entry into competitive curling, so I thought I'd get up early and do my pictures, then go back to bed and not have to deal with it in the middle of the day when it's hot out and I have to think.



Well, that sort of happened. The dew in our front field was more water than soft dew, and my Toms were soaked by the time I got from the yard to the field. I set up the tripod, then switched my shoes, then tried some pictures...



And they looked bad. So I left the field, downtrodden with wet feet, shlepped back inside, took my outfit off and crawled into bed. I looked at the pictures again on my camera, just to be sure...and then they looked better. So I pulled everything back on, went outside, and took more pictures. By the time I was done everything about my outfit made me feel hot and uncomfortable, and I just wanted to peel everything off and sleep. So I did. And then I woke up and noticed that I'm making the same dumb pose in all my pictures, but I don't care. It's over, it's done, and curling yesterday was awesome so all's well that ends well!

The art of being backward

Necklace, lengthened: Anthropologie
Cardigan: Target
Dress, worn backward: Target
Belt: Target
Heels: Nine West



I warned you that eventually I was going to wear this dress backward. Fortunately for us all, it looks good this way. We know cardigans and some dresses both work in reverse, but what about pants? Probably not pants. How awkward would that be? Now, looking at my closet, mostly tops spring forward as wearable items when worn backward. The bras definitely don't though (just fyi).



Today's outfit was described as "charming" by an equally charming gay man at work; I can't say I'm pulling off my team spirit well, but as an Eagles fan I can say my outfit is representative of the backward stance of cheering for the Saints tonight. I am so, so ready for some football. I've decided that should my fantasy football teams (Team of the d'Urbervilles and The Team Also Rises) have team colours, they will be pink, navy and gray. Perfect! I am ready to kick off my season backward, in style, and secure in the knowledge that we're all undefeated, at least until tomorrow.