The elephant in the room

Necklace: JCPenney
Tank: Target
Skirt: JCPenney
Wedges: Target
Dog: Ellie



Wondering where I've been? Probably not, but I'll tell you anyway. Technically, I've been nowhere different than my daily locations--home, barn, work, grocery shopping, and more very unexciting places. But physically, this week has been extremely hard. Frustrating though it is to admit, I was diagnosed with RA a year and a half ago after a six month dive into constant flares in my hands that feel like a cavity after eating a candy bar. That sharp, searing, suck-in-your-cheeks kind of pain that won't go away until it wants--I get that in the knuckles of my hands. Without warning, I suddenly feel this pain. It doesn't affect my range of motion (thank goodness!) but boy does it hurt.



Fortunately it's mostly under control with medication, but I still do have flare ups. From Tuesday to last night has been a struggle to ignore the pain, and the last thing I felt like doing for the last few days was taking outfit pictures, especially since my outfits consisted of pants + top + flats. Pretty boring. The only thing I wanted to do was burrow my hands in a hole of cool dirt to dull the pain. Of course it is 95 here so that didn't really happen (womp womp) but today has been the first day where I felt more like I could do Whatever and not worry about driving through the pain to get to Whatever. Hopefully this won't happen again--I always hope it won't, and it hadn't since February--but now you know. I'm not perfect, I'm only 99% there :)

I did finish The Art of Fielding while I was out of commission, so if I remember I'll post about that next!

Fielder's indifference

Top: JCPenney
Skirt: Gap
Wedges: Target



I'm going to let you in on a secret. A lot of my friends think I know a lot about sports. And I totally do! I know a ton about football (especially football), curling, equestrian, yoga, swimming, gymnastics, and most sports that only appear during the Olympics. But I can't stand baseball. I've been forced into a few Phillies or Red Sox games in the history of my life, and I readily admit that I wish I had not wasted those hours of my life watching a sport I so preparedly dislike.



I'm reading a book right now called The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, which officially comes out next month but because I was lucky and went to BEA I got a signed advanced reader's copy! (The author is a really nice guy!) The Art of Fielding is about baseball, but it's about so much more--five people whose lives intersect and are altered from the course of one erroneous play. It's a book that, despite being about something I hate, so far I love. I won't recommend it YET but I can admit that 200 pages in I already have a deeper appreciation of baseball.

I mean, you won't catch me watching a game unless the Phils are in the World Series again, but at least I better grasp the art of baseball now. (I'll still take football any day though.)

Bugged

Prnted top: JCPenney
Tank: TJMaxx?
Shorts: Walmart
Flats: Target via eBay



Yeah there's a hole in my shoe. I don't care! I love these shoes. I'll sew it up.

Please ignore the fact that my shorts are the same colour as my legs. Hopefully it won't be this way forever. (It probably will.)



Gosh don't you just want to cut that one piece of grass right down? What a jerk.

I spent too much time tonight with coworker T. eating bacon and letting her take pictures of my sunburned chest. Yay for Tuesday nights!

I was nearly eaten alive by gnats taking these pictures. I know tall grass is pretty but I think from now on I'm going to stick to urban decay. Way fewer flesh-eating bugs.

Tomorrow, y'all! See you then.

To the future

Necklace: Target
Cardigan: Target
Cami: Old Navy
Belt: Target
Skirt: Boden
Flats: Target



My toe is still mildly crippled, so no heels today. I also considered wearing the pearls today but I thought three times in four days may have been too much.



I am not working the next three days. So I may be posting, I may be not posting! It depends on how hard I work to get out of bed and dress myself. Plans for my three day semi-weekend include getting a new driver's license, registering for the GRE (just did this, yiiiiiiikes) and taking my horse to the trainer for a lesson. We'll see how well all that actually goes.

Also my father is insistent I take my parents out to dinner since my tax refund finally arrived. He will be lucky if he gets a sandwich from Panera.

See y'all sooner or later!



e: Is anyone having problems viewing these pictures? Let me know--two aren't showing up for me and it appears to be a Flickr issue at the moment.

Day and night

Helmet: IRH
Shirt: Target
Riding pants: Tailored Sportsman
Half chaps: Dublin
Boots: Ariat

I woke up appallingly early this morning and rode my horse. My 16 year riding anniversary was over the weekend (I'm serious). This is what I wore!



Today my parents brought home horse #5. Those things are addictive, I'll tell ya.

After I rode I took a shower, let the horses out, had lunch, got dressed for work, and drove to work. This is what I wore!



Top: TJMaxx
Dress: Target
Belt: Target
Wedges: Shoe Carnival



Two outfits, one pattern, one day. Life is HARD. Fortunately it is a week around the US of A to bask in the glory of warm, springlike (probably summerlike in Cardiganland) weather.

Check out that Fashion Blogger Toe Point. I'm an ace at that! Probably a good thing since I'm extremely underpronated* anyway. Thanks coworker T.for snapping quick shots while we were on break.

Tomorrow, y'all! Maybe my next post will make more sense? Probably not though.



*word of the day!

Tredecim

Necklace: handmade
Cardigan: Target
Top: Anthropologie
Skirt: JCPenney
Tights: American Apparel
Wedges: Target



The quality on these pictures isn't very good, I'm afraid, but it gets the point across. By the time I got out of work the sun was well on its way down for the night and it was quite windy, but I was able to find a good spot for pictures. Thanks to the only "skyscraper" in my city for providing a backdrop and additional light!



My boss saw me today and said "today I give your blog five stars!" And my mom saw me today and said "I think I like your outfits better when you only have 30 things to wear!" Votes of confidence across the board, people. We'll see if I get any votes tomorrow. (probably not)

Duo

Sweater: Kohl's
Skirt: JCPenney
Tights: Target
Wedges: Target





My amazing/hilarious coworker T. played guest photographer today. We went out to lunch and hit the local Walmart, her for dire need of pens and me for dire need of heel inserts because these shoes are JUST big enough for my feet to slide out. T. found heel inserts for $2.50 though so crisis averted! Then I held her at gunpoint and made her take my blog pictures! The first thing to happen when she turned on the camera was a minifreakout because the night setting was on. We both survived the pictures without realising that my sweater was askew but OH WELL. You get the point of this outfit.

Tomorrow afternoon I am on my way to the great white north for the weekend but I'll post my day 3 outfit before I leave. I'm still trying to decide if I want to bring my computer with me and update daily or if I should do a megapost when I return. Thoughts?

One-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater

Monday is usually a bad day.



Cardigan: Target
Tank: Anthro
Skirt: JCPenney
Tights: Target
Boots: Target

I have huge legs. I've always had difficulty finding tall boots that fit all the way around my calves, and as such rarely wear them. Until now! I found these boots at Target for $35 and they're worth every penny, even though I had to wear a size bigger than I normally wear to get the calves to fit. Wearing socks fixes the problem. I even bought a second pair in tan, because they're so comfortable and flattering.

Purple's a colour I've shied away from for a long time, especially because my dad is a huge Clemson fan. Anytime purple appears, he automatically thinks there is a Clemson-related situation going down. This time I think I avoided the Clemson consideration. Mixing black and brown is also something I ignored for a long time because it's considered such a faux pas around these parts, much like wearing white after Labor Day and having a boyfriend shorter than you. I think with this outfit I also avoided looking weird, though I hear mixing neutrals isn't a bad thing.

Are there any colour combos you tend to avoid? Why?