Donna Draper

Glasses: Prada (ooh la la) | Necklace: gift from my parents | Dress: Anthropologie | Boots: Belk | Lips: NARS Funny Face

Okay, so a few notes on the things I'm wearing.

First of all, I have new glasses! I smudged them within five minutes of wearing them, which is par for the course for me. I feel very modern Mad Men in them. Trying on glasses is probably the only opportunity I'll ever have to wear things by the likes of Tom Ford and Prada.

Second, this dress was a Christmas gift from me to me, wrapped by my mom because I'm weird and like to buy things for myself for Christmas and then unwrap them. I stalked the green version of this dress online for a while but it was ridiculously expensive and I resigned myself to the fact that I would never have it. I ended up in Charlotte to get a new Mac power cable, and I swung by Anthro while I was at the mall and they had this colour version of the dress--and it was $40! WORTH IT.

Three--that pink thing on my arm is not some cool new thing. (If it is will someone please tell me so I know?) Over the weekend I went for a walk with my mom and on the way back I caught a glimpse of our neighbour's horse with her leg through the fence. We went down into her field to try and help her, and of course she bit me. Like the took a big old chunk of my arm. Nerves, definitely, but I wasn't too pleased. (We ultimately got her separated from the fence, thanks to a sharp pair of wire cutters.) I iced it but it actually turned slightly green--and I don't bruise, so greenish is bad for me--and it's extremely tender, sore, and slightly hard. I read online that KT tape sometimes helps with swelling and soreness, so I swung by the Cardiganland sports place and picked up a roll. So far, it's at the least stabilized the area and it doesn't hurt as much, so that's nice! And now I have a roll of KT tape in case (for when?) I get hurt running. Because let's be honest, when you run, it's bound to happen.

My kingdom for a brooch

Brooches: my mom's | Sweater: Kohl's | Skirt: Talbots | Tights: Target, no doubt | Flats: Target

Salazar always has amazing brooches, which makes me want to put a lot more effort into developing a bigger collection of my own. As it stands, almost all of my brooches--including the six (six!) in today's outfit--are direct hand-me-downs from my mom, which she wore quite often at her office job. One, a white fish, came all the way from my grandmother. The only "brooches" I've contributed to my own collection are Cape May beach tags, which is pathetic. (Not that I don't love my beach tags, because I do!) I made a huge mistake by going on Etsy, because now there are star shaped brooches in my eyes and I want to dump a pile of cash on everything from octopi and birds to bows (Salazar this seems very you!) and a station wagon with a canoe on top because why the hell not. Someone get me away from Etsy before I fritter away my entire massive public servant salary.

Frazzle dazzle

Bow: my parents' stash | Necklace: JCPenney | Top: J.Crew Factory | Skirt: Talbots | Heels: Urban Outfitters | Lips: Maybelline Are You Red-dy

I usually kind of wait until the last minute to figure out what to do for SIA, but this time around I knew exactly what I wanted to do: jack my hair up to Jesus. I think it's a kind of sourthern thing to tease the living daylights out of your hair, but considering this week's inspiration, how could I not do it myself? And I feel like I fit the theme. So I'm pleased. I picked blue shoes to highlight the itty bitty tornado in the woman's hand. I tried to find one myself but it's not really tornado season. Womp womp.

Check out 14 Shades of Grey tomorrow for Salazar's Style Imitating Art roundup! And just a note--SIA is taking a break for the holidays. We'll return on January 4th, 2016 (2016!!) with Jen's next pick!

SIA: PSA

Stressed Out by Layla Holzer
Ink & pastel on paper, 2015

This week's Style Imitating Art inspiration is compliments of an illustrated interview with Layla Holzer (click the title of the artwork to see the interview--it's really neat!). This is the perfect time for a piece like this: it looks holiday-y, but it's also all about that end-of-year stress so many of us encounter. I'm stressed right now about a billion different things, but it's a tempest in a teapot (see tiny cyclone) compared to so many other people. And I feel lucky to have so many things that are good in my life.

And one of those good things is SIA! Send your photos inspired by this piece to Salazar by Monday, December 14th to be included, and she will post the roundup on Tuesday!

Hello from the other side

Jacket: Target | Dress: Old Navy | Belt: Target | Tights: probably Target | Boots: Target

The other side of the holidays, that is. My boyfriend put up his tree, which is 100% decorated with ornament discards from my parents. I kind of love it though--it's like my tree, but somewhere else! And it's nice to look at all the ornaments and think of all the people that have helped make these ornaments, especially my grandmother. She died when I was only 5, but I have some fond and comical memories of her. In addition, we found a black Santa ornament, painted by her. She took me to an AME church when I was little and she drove an old Red Cross station wagon stuff to the gills with crap. So when I look at the tree, with all its unique and weird and cute and kitsch ornaments, I'm reminded of her and how funny she was. And then I look at the bottom of the tree and see a cat rolling around under it and knocking a poor wool cardinal off its branch. Perfect.

Style Imitating Art: Freedom from Want

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS. Everyone looks so amazing this week!!! AAAAAH! As a reminder, this week's SIA inspiration was Freedom from Want by Norman Rockwell but let's get to the outfits because I am dying.

Erin at Loop Looks took her photos by her parents' dining table, which is so perfect for this week's SIA! And she looks so stylish, too.



I love the comfortable but put together look Alison of Nouveau North Westerners submitted! And the blue is stunning on her--perfect for her skin tone, right?



Kezzie at Kezzie AG has a BROCCOLI BROOCH. Adorable!!



Mike looks super sharp in his suit! He managed to match his suit shirt to the blue in the painting. Awesome!



Noelle at The Classy Junk found a great backdrop for her photos too! And I'm pretty sure we own the same scarf. (Is there anyone who doesn't have a scarf similar to this one this season?) She looks great!



I love SIA curator Jen of Librarian for Life and Style's outfit--it's so classically chic. Yes please!



My SIA co-creator Salazar at 14 Shades of Grey looks really modern in her outfit. She said this silhouette is awkward but I'm not seeing it--I think it looks great on her!



And then there's me! Hiiiii from what feels like the wettest part of America.



I am blown away by how everyone nailed this week's SIA. I kind of want to photoshop us all together in one big SIA family photo! Thank you all for participating!