Beauty is as beauty does

Lips: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Berry Haute | Hat: Target, feathers added by me | Scarf: JCPenney | Cardigan: J.Crew Outlet | Skirt: Talbots | Tights: Target | Heels: Anthropologie

For the first time...possibly ever, I found a picture that I honestly, legitimately, truthfully think makes me look like a physically attractive person. (See below.)

Too bad I'm wearing a silly hat for it. Or is it???

Pan Am Madeline hat

Hat: vintage | Top: Loft Outlet | Skirt: Target | Flats: Payless

can't talk, too busy guest posting at Dani's place

From point to point

I spent today in south Charlotte for the Queens Cup Steeplechase. According to my parents, I have been to a steeplechase, but I was so young that I don't remember it at all! Despite the gray skies and slow schedule, my friends and I had a great time and we'll be back next year (hopefully with a tailgate spot!). Here are some photos of the day. Enjoy!

That's the dipstick

Hat: Target
Top: Boden
Shorts: Boden
Wedges: Target



It's a Target Boden sandwich! Isn't it glorious? Not really. I think what we've learned from all this is that I need to size DOWN in Boden's clothing. Self-esteem boost!



Today I learned how to check my car's oil level. It is a lot easier than I thought it would be so why didn't I learn about...9 years ago when I started driving? Oh well, better late than never as I say. As has everyone else I have ever known.

I'll be in Savannah all weekend. I'm planning on taking my camera and computer, though I have no idea if I'll have time to update. If not, megaupdate on Tuesday! I'll be sticking to 30 for 30 too. Probably. Mostly.

Ok maybe.

I beg your pardon

Hat: Target
Brooch: antiqued
Dress: Target
Wedges: Target



My coworker D. said I looked awesome today. Then he dubbed this dress "watercolour camo". Whaaaaaaaaaat? Way to negate the compliment, D. But I love this dress I dug out of clearance at Target (of course), despite the chest area being miles too large and baggy. I fixed that with one safety pin at the waist and one brooch at the chest. DONE. I'm not sure if I want to sew it down permanently because it creates a pretty lovely deep but not sleazy v neck when unpinned, but that's a bit too salacious for the workplace.



I actually planned to take these pictures in front of a red-orange wall, but it was hot and very near teenagers so I skipped it in favour of a giant graffiti wall instead. Because if there's one thing I love, it's pattern clashing with more pattern! I didn't think it through. I'm like the dad in all those paper towel commercials who never puts the lid on the blender before using it. Except I've never used a blender and if I did I sure wouldn't do it with my little kid stand next to me. I don't need a little kid laughing at me in my darkest hour of blender tragedy.

Sew what?

Hat: thrifted/Nine West
Cardigan: Target
Tank: Target
Skirt: Boden
Wedges: Target
Nails: Sephora by OPI Once a Cheetah Always a Cheetah (what the)
Cat: Abigail



I finally FINALLY got this skirt darted at the waist. Also, because I sew in spurts, I took the waist in on another dress and started making a skirt. No, for real. I don't know why but it probably had something to do with the 95 degree weather.



I've never been a big hat person. They usually look pretty stupid on me and I have such a big head (plus big hair) that they almost never fit. But my mom and I went into a local antiques shop and I was looking for a big floppy hat to wear to the beach/at the pool and BAM big floppy hat for $6. And it fits. I might put a ribbon around it because I don't really love the beading or whatever, but I'll get that done about when I finish that skirt (read: never). On the bright side I'll probably be spending a lot of time inside because it's So Effing Hot, and this is how I feel about that:



Yaaaaaaaaaaaay.

This is me missing you

Hat: thrifted/Nine West
Tank: Target
Shorts: Boden
Wedges: Target

YOU GUYS I'M BACK! I've missed you all terribly. I'm kind of surprised at actually missing blogging; I thought I'd not want to come back to it but really I'm glad to return. I actually don't have a lot of outfit photos to share--the one above is from today--but I thought I'd post some other pictures from my trip.



I saw a ton of my heroes speak this week. Craig Thompson, Jane Lynch, and above, the one and only Jeffrey Eugenides. I'm incredibly excited for his next book, The Marriage Plot, which will be out this fall. He read the first paragraph and I am mesmerized, to say the very least. He was also funny! Everyone who spoke that morning was--also on the panel were Mindy Kaling, Diane Keaton and Charlaine Harris. Every person I mentioned in this paragraph has a book coming out this year.



Here's Rockefeller Center. I pretended to be Liz Lemon for a second and went blerg while my camera buzzed to life.



Thursday afternoon/evening was free time for us since the convention ended at 1pm. I took that opportunity to drag my boss to Central Park and while she looked for an I love New York t-shirt for her son, I wandered through the Met for a few hours. Amazing. I didn't get to see everything, of course, but I viewed the Egyptian art, Greek & Roman art, and 19th-early 20th century European galleries, which were my top picks. What an extraordinary place.



Jimmy Fallon, you guys. I met Jimmy Fallon. And he said my name! I just can't even. Seriously the highlight of my life week.



Our hotel was swank. It was my first time staying in a hotel room alone and by far it was the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. I loooooooved it. By day two my boss and I were calling it "home" and I really did not want to leave.



On Wednesday night my three best friends from high school and I all met for dinner and this is what I wore.

Top: Anthro
Jeans: Walmart
Flats: Target
Bag: Target

It worked but my feet were still exhausted. And by the end of the day Thursday they were even moreso.



Cardigan: Target
Jeans: Gap
Wedges: Target
ID badge: sooooooo coooool

Here I am at the Dork Diaries steps. Adorable, right? The steps, not me. I spent 90% of the entire convention wearing this cardigan because it was freezing inside. Thursday morning I actually had to leave a panel because it was too cold in the room for me. And I never get cold!



There was an entire room (room is undercutting it--the place was massive) dedicated to shipping things home. Table after table of boxes filled with thousands of free advanced reader copies of books yet to be published, posters, free bags, pens and other swag. My boss and I sent home 40+ pounds' worth of books to our library.

I think it's fair to say that I was really underprepared for exactly how big BEA was going to be. The convention center it was held in is truly massive; the exhibition floor was split into three giant parts with conferences, panels and author conversations all simultaneously operating on two separate floors. I waited in line for James Patterson's new book--signed by him--for half an hour (for my mom, who flipped OUT when I surprised her with it!); I was 38th in line and by the time he started signing there were at least 150 people waiting. And that was in Hatchette's (his publisher's) booth; there was another section specifically dedicated to signings and that place was a zoo.



Really, though, my only major complaint was the crowds. I saw some amazing authors and met some great people and I'm already brewing ideas for how to integrate what I saw and experienced at BEA into our library system. But as much as I loved the trip and what we accomplished, I can say I'm glad to be home. I got very little sleep while I was there! I'll try to do a post of upcoming books you might want to look out for, but for the next couple days I'm just going to relax. Good thing it's a holiday weekend. At the latest you can expect an outfit post Tuesday. Maybe sooner if I feel like it!

Glad to be back, y'all. Fill me in on what I've missed!

Hay fever

My parents are gone for the week, so I'm running the show here!



Hat: American Eagle
Vest: Target
Shirt: Old Navy
Jeans: Walmart
Boots: Tractor Supply
Hay: coastal

I took these pictures on Saturday, before it was freezing cold. The wind and cold that came from Canada are pretty horrifying and painful, and I'm now wearing a LOT more when I go out to handle the horses.

I've always avoided vests. For a long time I thought they made me look fat and stupid and kind of lumpy, since they add so much bulk. But I got this one a couple weeks ago and I like it a lot! It's warm and comfortable and I don't think it actually adds a lot of weight.



I wear the same hat to the barn every time I have to wear a hat. I got this hat two years ago, and the first time I wore it to feed the horses, they wouldn't come near me because they weren't used to my hat. Now that they're used to it, I can't change my hat! It's a pretty goofy looking hat but it's fleece lined and keeps my head warm. There's nothing like an ugly hat when you're in the barn!