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.

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!

Runner's high

Shades: Party City | Necklace: J.Crew Factory | Top: J.Crew Factory | Skirt: this one from Modcloth | Wedges: Target | Lips: NARS Funny Face

I ran (like legit ran, except for a few walks) my second 5k on Saturday, and managed to not die! My only goal was to make it in less than an hour, and my time ended up being 45:48! I'm really pleased, because I'm generally a pretty slow runner. If I had known I was so close to under 45, I would have pushed it a little harder--but regardless, I'm happy. I loved the race I ran (it's a small one in Cardiganland), and now I have a legit 3.1 mile course fairly close to where I live that I can train on! I'm already aiming for a 5k in January and I'm hoping to shave my time down to sub-40 by then. Ultimately, my official year long goal is to run the Great Smoky Mountains Half Marathon on September 10th, 2016. I might be insane, and I might have to walk parts of it, but I'm doing it. And I'm really excited. Doing the math, it makes sense--I can spend the rest of this year focusing on my 5k work, then start nailing down a 10k training program. The half marathon training program I've found is a 16 week program, and that leaves me with the first five months of 2016 to really get ready for that. I have no delusions of grandeur here; I know I'm in for pain and misery and torture and long nights at the gym and a lot of hours on my sneakers, but I'm kind of looking forward to it.

I mean, I'm going to hate myself immensely while I'm running. But I'm still going to do it.

Cash

Top: Target | Pants: Old Navy via Dani at DIYFATSHION | Wedges: Target | Shades: Party City | Lips: NARS Annabella

I have been enjoying wearing all black--or a lot of black--lately. I've never been an all black kind of gal, and even when I only liked gray and navy and olive, I never really wore black. It felt really harsh to me. But after Dani gifted me these black ponte pants, which filled a need I didn't know I had, things changed. I wear these pants at least once a week. And it's so easy to just wear a bunch of black, especially on a Sunday when I have to work. The only problem is the cat hair and lint. I wonder if Johnny Cash ever had that issue.

Walking billboard

Top: Gap Outlet | Skirt: J.Crew Factory | Wedges: Payless | Lips: NARS Schiap

I received a compliment of the highest order today.

"You look like you shop at ModCloth."

Nailed it!

Dressed down

Dress: Boden | Belt: Target | Heels: Urban Outfitters | Lips: NARS Annabella

This DRESS, y'all. I've wanted this dress since it showed up on Boden's website months ago, when it was $168. (Not. Joking.) When it finally went on sale for half off, I thought FINE, I'll get it. You have convinced me, Boden! So I ordered a size down (my usual Boden size) and it was ENORMOUS. I almost never feel small due to clothing, but the entire thing was two inches two big. Weak. So back it went and I decided not to switch out on sizes, since it just wasn't worth it to me to keep sending dresses back and forth looking for the right fit. So out of sight, out of mind it went.

Until last week, when Boden sent me an email that some of their clearance items had been marked down to 80% off. And this dress was one of them! $33.60. Whoaaaaaa. You can safely assume that I broke down and ordered the next two sizes down to find the right dress size, and obviously things worked out, since I am now wearing this dress. BAM.

Also: ew. I need a haircut so badly, y'all. It's time to break out the scissors.

Sandy

Dress: Target | Belt: Target | Sandals: Ross | Toes: butter London Giddy Kipper | Lips: NARS Schiap

I don't think I ever introduced my tattoo to the blog. I got it in July, so it's been around for a while, but still. I have no immediate plans for another mobile, but who knows? Maybe that's why I have such big arms--more room for mobiles!

Woosh

Necklace: ModCloth | Dress: Loft Outlet | Belt: Target | Tights: Target? | Boots: Target | Lips: NARS Red Square

Ever since finishing grad school, I have struggled mightily to read. I usually read one book a week, but since January, I've read three books. It's actually upsetting: I wonder sometimes if my reading behaviours have been permanently altered due to the reading strain that I was under during school (I read 75 books last year, mostly for classes). I have been carrying around the same book for about a month, and I was really excited when it came out, and it's REALLY good. And yet, I can't convince myself to read. I hate it.

Any suggestions on how to get past this mess are greatly appreciated!

Pucker up

Top: Gap | Belt: Target | Skirt: Talbots | Flats: Payless | Lips: NARS Lodhi

Today is the first day since The Banana Incident of 2014 that I have felt okay with wearing lipstick. I was a little scared, but my lips have held up. I am rather desperately hoping that my lips remain okay--there was a point during the whole little trauma that I thought my lips would scar, that they'd never be the same. Along with my hair, my lips have been one of the few body parts of mine that I have never lamented, and the idea of them being irreparably altered was crushing. So I'm happy to report that the worst seems to have passed, and if not, then I have a giant tube of hydrocortisone that will make sure things eventually get back to normal. Crisis: averted.

Support system

High five me, bro!

Dress: Anthropologie | Belt: Ann Taylor Factory Store | Wedges: Target | Lips: NARS Jungle Red

I am up to my EARS in storytelling stuff, y'all. Books, stories, books on stories, lectures on stories, chats on stories, analyses of stories. I may sound like I'm complaining, and in a way I am--everyone warned me about Maymester classes!--but it's also kind of awesome. I performed one of my stories for my boss today and she was extremely jazzed, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I've never considered storytelling as something I can do. I have a thing about public speaking; I'm not afraid of it, but I subconsciously and physiologically respond to it. My heart races. I begin to blush. I get hot. But generally, none of this happens until the speaking is actually over. And the nice thing about storytelling is that once it's over, it is OVER. Unless you're in class, there's no feedback. As soon as you walk in front of you, everyone wants you to succeed. They all want to hear the story. That's why you're there, and if you panic, that's okay, because you take a second, you take a deep breath, and then everyone wants even MORE for you to do well. Which is kind of an amazing thing. If only all public speaking were that supportive.