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.

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.

Glamour

Jacket: Forever 21 via Dani | Top: J. Crew Factory | Skirt: Target | Tights: oh, probably Target | Heels: Urban Outfitters | Nails: butter London Artful Dodger

Something about the photo above--the shot of my moneymaker--feels really 90s to me. Maybe it's the leopard. Maybe it's the red. Maybe it's the gigantic hair. But whatever it is, I love it. Getting my glamour shots on.

Swing by tomorrow morning for this week's SIA roundup! Everyone has great outfits this week!

The struggle is real

Top: Target | Skirt: Boden | Tights: Target | Boots: Off Broadway | Lips: NARS Heat Wave

I've bemoaned my gray hair before (truth is that I love them), but it's getting real now. I have found no fewer than four gray hairs long enough that they we cut the last time I trimmed my hair, and they're blatantly obvious now that I'm no longer dying my hair. I read online that the age you gray is usually tied to genetics, but my parents--and THEIR parents--went gray at a normal middle-to-older age. And yet there I was, in front of the mirror at age 21, staring at a gray hair protruding straight out of the edge of my hairline, practically reaching out to the mirror to say hello to itself. The only person I have to blame is my dad's dad, because my father can't remember when he went gray. But he had a full head of snow white hair by the time I was old enough to have memories of him, so there's plenty of upside. Silver fox, here I come.

Valentine

Locket: heirloom | Sweater: JCPenney | Skirt: Belk | Tights: Target | Flats: Banana Republic

It took me a LONG TIME to post my Valentine's Day outfit, y'all. I'll explain why in my next post, but for now, let me tell you what I did for Valentine's Day.

I spent Valentine's Day at work, and then I went food shopping, came home and fed the horses, made dinner, let the horses out, and cleaned my room. You read that right: I cleaned my room. My boyfriend has, until very recently, been working nights, and he had to work Saturday night, while I had to work all day, so there was no overlap in free time. (I got to see him Sunday though!) I am currently on call at home 24/7 because my parents, those jerks, are on vacation in the Florida Keys right now--they've been away since Friday (2/13) and won't be back until Sunday evening (2/22)! So to get home at 7pm and feed the horses, and then cram down a plate of food and be back out at the barn by 9...I was exhausted. I had bold plans to go to the gym and maybe watch Clueless, but I ended up looking at my bedroom and noticing a giant pile of clothing in the corner, which was screaming to be PUT AWAY ALREADY.

So happy Valentine's Day to me: nothing screams romance quite like cleaning.

V-Day

Jacket thing: Forever 21 | Dress: Target | Belt: Target | Tights: ??? | Flats: Banana Republic | Nails: butter London Full Steam Ahead

I may not be single anymore, but that doesn't mean I want to do anything for Valentine's Day. My boyfriend works nights, and weekends, and I happen to be working on Valentine's Day too, so my main plan is to eat some crappy food (maybe Chinese?), watch Clueless and sew. There may also be some beer involved. Or at least I hope there will be beer involved. There's nothing more romantic than beer.

Protein party

Cardigan: Target | Dress: Dorothy Perkins, via Dani at DIYFATSHION | Belt: Target | Tights: Target | Flats: Target

I recently started eating Greek yogurt. I have never been a big fan of yogurt--I don't know why but I've never liked it--but I've been trying to cut down on my cholesterol/sugar intake, and one of my coworkers suggested Greek yogurt. And OH EM GEE it's basically the taste of sour cream with the consistency of cream cheese. Both things that I love. And there's fruit on the side! Is there anything NOT to love? I mean, aside from when it's gone, which is utterly devastating. Do any of you guys eat Greek yogurt? What brand do you eat? I've been in on Fage and the Publix brand (hell yeah) but I've heard mixed reviews about Chobani. Give me your recs! I can quit when I want! Whatever!

Twu wuv

Umbrella: lost and found at work | Coat: Gap Outlet | Top: J.Crew Factory | Skirt: J.Crew Factory | Tights: Target | Boots: Off Broadway

I am so in love...

With my new 50mm lens. Like whoa.

I rented a 50mm f/1.4 lens from Lensrentals.com to use for a little while after the death of my beloved 50mm f/1.8, and I loved it so much that I bought the darn thing. I needed a new lens anyway, and the natural progression of my life--which involves outfit photos and a growing number of requests for portrait photos from friends--said that it was time to take the upgrade. Don't mind me, just nerding out over here in my tiny corner of the internet.

Bloop

Necklace: gift from parents | Dress: Gap Outlet | Belt: Target | Tights: Target | Boots: Off Broadway

My boyfriend downloaded the game The Unfinished Swan yesterday, and I spent some time playing it. (A rarity for me--I'm terrible at video games.) So today when I looked at this dress I thought I looked a little bit like I got hit by the paint gun in the game, but hey--looks good! I'll take it.

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!

Franz Sinatra

Top: J. Crew Factory | Dress: Ann Taylor Factory Store | Belt: Target | Tights: Target | Flats: Payless

I'm in charge of purchasing music for my library system (talk about a dream come true!), and today my boss and I spent some time going through some boxes of donated music to see what could be added to the collection and what could move on to be sold by the Friends of the Library. There were some real gems, but my favourite moment was when my boss pulled out an album to read me the artist (so I could check to see if we owned it already) and ceremoniously announced "Frank Ferdinand".

So, so close.