The year in review

It's 2015! Holy cannoli! I guess I should do some sort of review, right? Everyone does that nowadays. So here we go!



January: my hair was so short, you guys. I also had to regrow the top layer of skin on my lip after I learned the hard way that I was allergic to bananas. I also, on January 1st, officially became a librarian.



February: snow came to Cardiganland, for once. I also started dating my boyfriend. (Whoa!) Oh yeah--I also learned to play Call of Duty. Is this good? Is this bad? I'm really not sure.



March: I spent most of my time at work, getting ready for our first library con & summer reading!



April: I spent quite a bit of time buried under my horses' winter coat, clipping it off his body. And Concert Calendar 2014 started with a bang at an Against Me! concert, and then a whimper when Miley Cyrus cancelled on us.



May: This was one of you guys' all time favourite outfits! Library con was a go, and it was a big hit! (We're already working on 2015!!) Dani sent me a giant box of clothing that changed my style and my life, and I fulfilled a long held dream to see Vampire Weekend live.



June: summer reading commenced, and in short order, I spent a long weekend in New York City for the Governors Ball Music Festival, I had to put our barn cat down (RIP Ziggy), and I spent a week in Vancouver for work (and fun!). The month was a total whirlwind, up and down, but capped off with a Say Anything concert, I can't help but look at June as a good time.



July: America happened, and I wrote about my time in New York, which was a partially overly emotional experience. Summer reading ended, and one of my best friends from work left the library to get her Ph.D. (I miss her, but I'm very proud!)



August: FALL OUT BOY. MILEY CYRUS. NICKEL CREEK. Concert Calendar 2014 kicked into very high gear after summer reading ended, and I got injected directly in the tailbone. I think it's still crying in pain. I also made it a full year without dying my hair!



September: I survived housesitting and DragonCon, the latter for the second year in a row. One of my best friends from college, E., got married, and my boyfriend and I travelled to Virginia Beach for the wedding (and a ton of Wawa trips!). Football season started, finally, which was great--but I ended the month on a bad note, when my doctor broke the news that I was going to need back surgery to correct a recurred disc in my lower back.



October: I survived a ride at the fair and will never do it again. My boss and I presented very successfully at the state library association annual conference, and I went under the knife for a second time. My time in the hospital was comical, but even better, it was worth it: the surgery was a success!



November: I spent most of the month recovering from surgery, watching HGTV with my mom while hopped up on Percoset and working on cross stitching stuff. I went back to work part time a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, which was an ultimately successful endeavour!



December: holidays ahoy! My boyfriend and I travelled to Asheville for lots of Christmas lights, good food, and mountains. I went back a week later with S., L., & M. (see below) for more Christmas lights, and it was awesome. I got a new pair of glasses, so I can still see really well! And the holidays attacked, but it was worth every moment of utter insanity. & my hair has gotten WAY longer since January!

I hope you all had a wonderful 2014. I'm sure I'll talk about 2015 in my next post, but for now, looking back at the year that was: I feel pretty lucky. Aside from putting Ziggy down and having back surgery, 2014 was a pretty stellar year. I survived, and even thrived, in my first year as a librarian, I made some new friends, and snagged an amazing guy. I even used my passport! Parts of me will miss 2014, but I'm looking forward to what 2015 brings.

Happy new year!

30x30 v.3 roundup

SO MUCH ME. I say that every time, but it's always true!

This 30x30 was a little different from my previous attempts, because shoes weren't included. I didn't entirely realise how much extra leeway having an additional 5-6 pieces of clothing would give me, but you'll note that there are a few pieces that I only wore once! I also, for whatever reason, seemed to have a hard time really remixing this time around. Maybe because I wasn't forced to as much, or because it was so damn hot that I could barely wear clothing at all.

I did a lot of swapping this time around, because I had planned for somewhat normal heat here in Cardiganland put temperatures arced well into the 100s for over a week of my 30x30, and my original picks weren't primed for that. If I wore it once, though, it stayed in--which is why the tan sweater remains as part of the final set, while a couple of cardigans and a skirt were seen in the original list but not in this wrap-up.

I really enjoyed doing this challenge with bloggers I know. When Kendi runs 30x30, there's usually a ton of bloggers from throughout the style blogopsphere taking part, which on one hand is great because it introduces us all to new blogs and bloggers. At the same time, though, there can be less of a support group (especially since I did the first two without really knowing many bloggers) for those who want it. Since Dani and I coordinated the whole thing, I knew I'd have at least one buddy riding the wave with me. And then Salazar, Mara and my college roommate (!!!) took part, which was super exciting. For some reason, it's way more fun to watch people you know and bloggers you follow complete the challenge than total strangers.

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Favourite outfits
8, 10, 11, 15, 21, 26 & 29.

Least favourite outfits
1, 12, & 30.

Couldn't live without
The red patterned skirt and anchor cardigan did a lot of work, especially with the cardigan being a swapped item late in the game. My green skirt, as always, was a winner. And, well. Dresses, always dresses. There is nothing better than rolling out of bed, putting on a dress and walking out the door. I can't wait to wear some of this stuff in the winter with tights!

Could do without
That polka dot top from #12 might be going in the donation bin. I thought it looked cute on me, but seeing the picture...well, no. Not working for me. & the tan sweater got work only once, maybe because a sweater is not a good idea in the 95 degree heat. Also: only one pair of jeans was necessary. Though if we had included shoes, I would have probably cut a pair of jeans, a skirt and a cardigan to allow for shoes, in addition to probably the red v-neck top and polka dot top.

Great venues
10 & 20 (you guys were so impressed I took an outfit picture in Walmart!)

Not so great venues
I got really lazy toward the end and stuck pretty much entirely to the deck. Part of it is because I'm having back problems and I'm having a tough time lugging shit around (or standing after sitting...), and part of it is because I was doing two outfits a day at the end, and part of it really is because I'm lazy. Hoping to get off the deck soon, and I should be able to when I have a little more time in my days (aka not school--I'm off for most of August!).

Best experience during 30x30
When E. came to visit! Love that gal. Hanging onto my 4.0 GPA was also a pretty nice highlight.

Worst experience during 30x30
Well, now that I've mentioned it: hurting my back. I don't know what happened or how it happened, but I have an appointment with my orthopedist and hopefully some questions will be answered and some concerns (all mine) will dissipate. I'll go into my back a little more in the coming week, but for now...well, just keep your fingers crossed for me!

So that's that. I have a post that will be up tomorrow morning that lists all of my 30x30 breaks and why I broke the fashion fast, and tomorrow night will be my SIA post (remember to send me your shots influenced by this painting!), and then on Tuesday...back to normal, I guess! I am half happy, half ashamed to admit that I bought quite a bit of clothing over 30x30 and I'm in the process of cleaning out my closet and getting rid of (donating to K./Goodwill, trashing really rough looking stuff) what I no longer wear. It's rough work, but somebody's gotta do it! See you tomorrow (hopefully out in public instead of on my deck?) :)

A love letter to at least 97 awesome people

Heidi from Literate and Stylish recently posted about a problem she was having with Blogger comments remaining in Blogger rather than transferring to Disqus. I believe the problem is that with the mobile version of a Blogger site enabled, Blogger's commenting system overrides Disqus. So on the mobile site, only Blogger comments appear, while on the full site version, only Disqus comments appear. I'm disabling the mobile site now to avoid further issues like this. I'll monitor the issue going forward (my favourite football phrase) and if the problem continues I'll be contacting Disqus.

So to Bren, who left this comment on this post:

"Absolutely adore your blog...finding it has been one of the highlights in a pretty gruesome year for me. Thanks!"

Here's what I have to say. First, thank you for reading my blog. Thank you all. I never thought I'd have any followers, let alone 97 (?!) through Google Reader after a year. (Sometimes I feel lame because other blogs grow so fast but I received my first email about an affiliation program and I don't even know how to respond--I can't imagine how I'd handle it if this blog mushroomed like some do.) I have no idea where 94 of you came from or how you found Animated Cardigan, but I am really, truly honoured that you all think I'm funny/clever/stylish/un-boring enough to follow me and read my posts and, hopefully, take away something from this crazy thing. I know I can be a bit sporadic in posting, but I'm really glad you're all still hanging around!

& specifically to Bren, I hope with all my heart that 2012 is a million times better than 2011 was, and if there's anything you want to see from me that would help--ridiculous nail polish, how I look with my hair teased to high heaven, whatever--let me know and I'll try my best to help out.

And lastly, because I'm talking about how much I love you guys and how much I love this blog, here's a screenshot of the best text messaged I ever received, from earlier this year:



I just about melted into the floor in a puddle of rainbows and sunshine when I read that. I don't think about myself as a particularly inspiring person--for the post part I just go about my life and hope for the best--but once in a while someone posts a comment here or a friend sends a text and I'm reminded that there's something about me that is good enough for others to find inspiration, and that makes the broken cameras, horrible lighting, quarreling with hobos hiding where I take my pictures, and spending 40 minutes every night editing my photos and writing a post all very much worth it.

So thank you all for following along, and I can't wait to see what the new year brings us!

Top twelve-ish of 2011

Gosh, have I really been at this blogging thing for a year? Insane. My official blogiversary is in November, but I consider my official start of & dedication to style blogging as January 6th, when I wrote this post on my resolution to make this blog something I could be proud of. And wow have I ever accomplished this! I'm so happy to see how my style has grown and expanded over the last year, and I'm so ready for what 2012 brings. It's going to be wild--grad school, the summer Olympics (!!!!!!) and more responsibility at work--but I'm nothing but excited to dress for everything that comes my way, and to share it all with you!

With that, here are my top picks for each month this year. I'm pretty sure I didn't pick everything everyone else liked, but hey, it is my blog, after all ;)

January: Happy Refrain



February: Tredecim



March: In love





April: What's that now (above)
&
April: Take the outfit and run (below)



May: Graphic inspiration



June: It's a ferry tail



July: Lessons in pointless literary technique



August: Think hard, think fast



September: A promise this way





October: On scarves (above)
&
October: Worktoberfest (below)





November: The return of the jedi (above)
&
November: Steak me home tonight (below)





December: Career shift (above)
&
December: On bodycon (below)



Do you have a favourite? Least favourite? I could show you a number of particularly bad ones but I'd rather leave them buried in the archives! I'm actually driving to a bonspiel right now--I love scheduled posting--but I've been contemplating this post since December began and I love seeing how far I've come, both as a self-stylist and a self-photographer. I hope you've enjoyed the ride too. I loved blogging this year and I can't wait to see what 2012 brings!

I'll see you on Sunday with a new year and a new outfit post. Have a wonderful celebration and end to your 2011!

30 for 30 redux roundup!

Is that a lot of me or is that a lot of me? It's like looking at myself through a kaleidoscope!

Well, this 30 for 30 around was quite a bit different than my first/previous 30 for 30. As I mentioned in this post, I didn't feel like my picks this time around were quite as remixable as my first set. This time around I superceded texture for pattern, and that ended up biting me in the tail. Part of the reason I did that is because generally, the more texture or fabric detail is on an item of clothing, the warmer it gets. And it's currently 102 here in Cardiganland so no thanks! (How am I wearing jeans right now? I mean really.)

Last time around, I felt like my 30 for 30 was pretty even. No incredible outfits but no crash and burns either. This summer 30 was filled with high highs and low lows--there were some outfits that worked so well I plan to wear them again, while some outfits were bad enough to put them clean out of their misery.

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Couldn't live without: I'd be dumb to say my handmade skirt wasn't an awesome choice for my 30th piece. It works with just about every top I own, and I can't wait to start wearing tights with it. My nude wedges got a lot of air time (with reason--they're comfortable and have nice height) & despite the unbearable southern heat, my cardigans proved their worth.

Could do without: That red polka dotted top. I tried so hard to incorporate it but it just didn't work with any of my bottoms. Oh well. & I guess technically I should say my giant brown wedges because I only wore them three times, but every time I wear them they make the outfit rock. So whatever! I don't think I needed all three pairs of shorts either; a solid skirt would've been nice instead, or maybe an embellished top of some sort.

Great venues: 5, 14, 23, 29 & 30.

Not so great venues: 8, 10 & 12.

Highest highs: 11, 14, 15, 23, 28, 29 & 30.

Lowest lows: 10, 20, 21 & 24.

Best experience during 30 for 30: Going to Savannah with my best friend! That was awesome, even with the sunburn.

Worst experience during 30 for 30: That nasty stomach thing I had where I couldn't eat for a week. Yucksville.