30 for 30: day 19

I'm losing my remix mojo. I'm having trouble coming up with new and exciting outfits to create with my items and I'm getting sick of wearing all these clothes. That's why I have been taking it slow. No need to rush through this, right?

I did some indoor photos last week. Not because the weather was bad, but because I was too lazy to go outside and my photographer was prancing around in his bathrobe and didn't want to get dressed. Upon reviewing these photos, it was a bad idea to stand directly in front of the window. Our living room also kind of looks like a funeral parlor in these pictures. I promise if you saw the whole thing you wouldn't think that, though. But Mom, that curtain does not photograph well.

This past weekend was both good and bad. Good, because it involved a lot of much needed relaxing and errand running. Bad because I ate like a big, junk food eating piggy. Back on track today and I will STAY on track the rest of this month in order to reach my goal of 5lbs lost by April 1st. I got my binge out of my system, literally made myself sick by eating gross foods, and now I am ready to get back on track.

In other news, I watched the Godfather for the first time this weekend, Boyfriend finally got a new car,  and Boyfriend and I went to Ikea and finally bought the shelves I have needed. My brother and I (and Boyfriend because he happened to show up just as my brother and I were "heading to the 90s!") also became absorbed in Twin Peaks, a cult show from the 90s. I guess it won all these awards for being the best show of its time and whatnot, but we just think the way they clearly created the entire title montage with Word Art is amazing. And the storyline is super addictive.

I like this last picture because I imagine that is what it would look like if I had a twin and we dressed alike and sat on the couch. I'm the prim and proper twin sitting up straight. My twin is the slouchy, casual looking one on the left. One of us has to be the mature adult around here.

30 for 30: day 18

I thought it might be interesting to write out what a normal day in my life looks like right now. Maybe some day I will look back on this blog and be all nostalgic about the little things in my life. Or maybe I'll look back and say "Oh yawn. February 2011 was such a snooze." Either way, I'm documenting it.

This morning I woke up late. I did my weigh in - down .4 lbs. Disappointed that it wasn't more, happy it was still a loss rather than a gain. Got ready, decided to curl my hair despite the fact that I was already running late. Then I realized I wanted to take a package to the post office today while I was at work but I needed packing tape. Turned house upside down looking for packing tape. Was unsuccessful. Grabbed package anyway, along with some snacks for work. No time to make lunch. Frost on my windshield, scraped a tiny hole big enough for me to see out of and drove off into the blazing sunrise. Yes, I do go to work that early. 

Got to work. Felt overwhelmed with all the stuff I had to do at work yet didn't want to. Met with my boss where she told me they were trying to cut down on the number of side projects I did so I could focus on the more important aspects of my job. Score! Then she actually asked what they could do to help me streamline the things I do and when I made suggestions she seemed game to make the changes Score two! Felt better about my work load for the rest of the day.

[30 items: denim shirt, black shorts, black boots/belt - Target/fleece lined tights - Target/bracelet - Tiffany/sunglasses - Ray Ban/fur collar - H&M/coat - H&M]

Ran my errands on my lunch break - bank, post office. The lady at the post office basically yelled at me for paying with a $20. Like it's my fault that's what the ATM gives out. Trust me, I don't like it either, but I'm not a bitch about it. I decided to treat myself to a grilled sandwich from the Coastal Greengrocer for lunch - arugula, turkey, goat cheese, pesto and provolone - heaven. I'm kind of obsessed with the Greengrocer all of a sudden. The rest of the afternoon went by drama and aggravation free! Now I am home, getting this post all queued up for tomorrow. So what you're reading is actually my yesterday. That's mind boggling.

The coat and fur collar make me think of Maude from Harold and Maude for some reason. Love that movie so much. It used to be watch instant on Netflix and now it's not anymore. What gives, Netflix? 

My actual outfit feels a little "urban cowgirl" to me, as ridiculous as that sounds. It's the denim shirt and boots that do it.

Tomorrow (today!) is Friday, hallelujah. My goals for the weekend are home mani/pedi, organize my room, and color my hair. It's going to be stupendous. How about you? What's your ideal weekend at home plan?

30 for 30: day 17

I know I am not alone when I say this - but I am really craving spring right now. It's just so close! the days are slowly but surely getting longer. The sun is out more. Unfortunately it is still pretty cold out. We're getting sooo close though!

I want to go for walks and feel the sun on my face. I want to eat outside - specifically, I want to go to my favorite Mexican place and eat outside. And drink a margarita. I want to be waking up in the morning after the sun comes up and not before. I want to wear pretty sundresses without tights. And I definitely want to banish my heavy winter coats to the depths of my closets.

[30 items: gray cardigan, skinny jeans, brown boots, navy thermal/hat - Forever 21/necklace - Forever 21]

I thought now would be a good time to go back and review my new Year's Resolutions to see how I am doing on them...but I can't find them! I thought for sure I had them in a post somewhere. Maybe I am just missing them. So I guess rather than making new resolutions now (since I can't even begin to remember the resolutions I made in January...oops) I'll just make a little list of things I want to focus on for Spring.

I want to be able to focus more on things I love doing. Getting myself organized will free up a lot of time I would otherwise be spending cleaning or searching for something. I'd also like to focus on better photo shoots for the blog. I'd like to start trying locations other than my backyard. I think that will be easier to do as the weather gets warmer and all the damn snow melts. And my writing - if I want to be serious about it, I have to actually do it. I plan on writing up some short stories and finding places to submit them. Any writers out there know of any good places to submit things?

Wish me luck!

30 for 30: day 16

Edy's Thin Mint Ice Cream: A Haiku

by Katrina

Slow churned goodness

I want to eat you all day

Yum yummity yum

Bur seriously, have you guys tried this stuff? You better go out and get some. Right now. Because it is limited edition. Oh man. I should go out and stock up! It's so, so good. Well, it is if you like Thin Mints. Otherwise you probably will be unimpressed. And it's low-fat so I don't feel too guilty about treating myself to a few bites a day.

Were any of you ever Girl Scouts? I was a Brownie back in the day. I had all those cookies at my finger tips and I never truly appreciated it. Now I don't know any Girl Scouts and it's hard to get those delightful cookies. I need a daughter someday so I can put her in Girl Scouts. Purely for the cookies.  All this talk of Girl Scouts makes me think of Troop Beverly Hills. What a classic. Whenever I eat a cookie I always sing this. It's cookie tiiimmee!

[30 items: sweatshirt top, skinny jeans, black desert booties/scarf - Old Navy]

Um. This whole post is about cookies and ice cream. I swear my diet is going (fairly) well!

Instead let's talk about my missing feet. Note to self: stop taking pictures in places where your feet are in a shadow. Sadly, I have at least one more set of pictures where my feet are hidden. Must be the sun at this time of year. Yes, let's blame the sun.

This was just a boring Friday outfit. I'm not sure I will undertake another 30 for 30 Challenge, but I know if I did I would incorporate more color next time. I think I played it too safe. I'm boring myself to death over here! We live, we learn, we remix.

30 for 30: day 15

The half way point! I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! I shouldn't complain. This hasn't been that bad. Some of my outfits have been profoundly boring, and others I have been pretty proud of. I was actually fairly proud of this one.

Oh.

Maybe I should mention something.

I cheated. Just a tiny bit though! Remember the oversized chambray shirt I had originally included in my 30? Well. I decided I hate it. I hate it in the context of the 30, anyway. It's really too big for me and it's too baggy for me to be able to style in many different ways. It may, in fact, be demoted to pajamas. So I just replaced it with a different, more fitted chambray shirt. Pretend it never happened. I already forgot all about that first shirt. Poof. Gone from my brain. It is now gone from yours too!

[30 items: *new* chambray shirt, Forever 21 dress, Jeffrey Campbell boots/coat - H&M/tights - TJMaxx/belt - J.Crew]

This past weekend I headed up to Portland, Maine with my best friend and her sister to celebrate sister's birthday. We vegged out and watched movies all weekend, only getting up to eat copious amounts of food. It was a good weekend - just not for my diet. So now I have decided to just buckle down and focus on getting rid of these last ten pounds so I can just relax and stop obsessing all the time. I just want to be in my maintaining stage. But right now I am counting every bite I put in my mouth and being miserable. Ah well, it will all be worth it in the end.

If you follow my Twitter, this is the outfit that was literally falling off me all day when I wore it. The elastic on the top of these tights has bitten the dust and they were shimmying down my legs all day. I also accidentally ripped all the buttons of that coat and had to belt it on. I did finally sew the buttons back on, so it's all good now.

30 for 30: day 14

This post is just under half way through the remix, but in real life I am just over half way through. Hallelujah! I miss my clothes. I took a bit of a break this weekend and wore things that weren't part of my 30 and just didn't photograph them. It was so refreshing. I missed my other shoes the most. My shoes are like my little babies. Instead of being a cat lady when I am old I think I will be a shoe lady.

[30 items: black cardigan, black skinnies, Jeffrey Campbell wedges, H&M shirt/necklace - Mom's]

This is what my hair looks like when I just "scrunch and go." What do you guys think? I've been trying to grow my hair out so I can wear it like this all summer. I feel like the waves are so uneven and unruly. Maybe the more I style it wavy the more obedient it will become? Maybe it's just used to being straight all the time and has no idea how to handle being left to it's own devices. Maybe I spend too much time thinking about my hair. That is the most likely explanation here.

I'm definitely coloring it. I have been hemming and hawing about coloring it for awhile. I am all about being au naturale and letting it lighten naturally in the summer, but I hate the orange tone it has. My hair never used to be like that and now suddenly it has this horrendous orange undertone. I hate it. I'm not doing anything drastic - just a cool brown to even out the brassy tones. We'll see how it goes!

30 for 30: day 13

Do you people hear that? That's the sound of melting snow, my friends. Finally! It's been a beautiful spring-like day today and tomorrow is supposed to be equally nice. I'm so excited to be rid of this snow. I think it will be awhile yet before it completely goes away though. There's still a lot of snow out there.

Maybe now the bucket on a stick people will get their mailboxes back. Have I told you about the bucket on a stick people? On my way to work a bunch of houses all had their roadside mailboxes buried by the snowplows. Instead of digging them out every time a plow went by, some people just gave up, stuck a stick into the snowbank and hung a bucket off the end. Some people got real fancy and wrote MAIL on the side in Sharpie. It's pretty funny seeing all these buckets dangling along the road.

[30 items: plaid shirt, flare jeans, brown JC boots/belt - Target/necklace - gift]

I'm headed back to the gym tonight for day two of Couch to 5k. My legs are feeling pretty good, I think yoga last night really helped stretch them out. Definitely stretching after my workout tonight, regardless of how easy it feels. If I lose 4 more pounds by April 1st (halfway to my goal weight) I am rewarding myself with a massage. I think that is manageable. April 1st is pretty far away. I'd make it a goal to lose more than 4 pounds, but I know myself. Baby steps.

I would like you all to join me in warm "Heyyyy brother" in a Buster Bluth voice! See that shadow in that picture? That's my brother/official photographer. Most people have a boyfriend or husband who takes their pictures. My "guy behind the camera" is my brother about 95% of the time. He's good at taking pictures. He knows I need detail shots, he makes fun of my poses and tells me when something looks stupid. So thanks, brother!

30 for 30: day 12

I know I'm a few days late on this one,  but this is what I wore on Valentine's Day! Nothing too crazily red or pink or anything. Really just my maroon tights. But I liked the outfit and Boyfriend said he was a fan of the dress, so that's a win.

The red heart is actually made out of the fabric I hacked off the bottom of the dress I wore to my work's winter party last month. I have before and after pictures of that dress I want to share, if I ever find the time! I have a lot of craft projects I want to do and I thought I'd have time over the winter months, but now spring is here and none of it has even been started! Oh well, I'll get to it eventually. I need more hours in my days!

[30 items: black dress, black JC wedges, cream cardigan/tights - TJMaxx/headband - Forever 21]

For Valentine's Day Boyfriend and I kept it simple. I made a nice dinner and he came over and ate it, haha. It was delicious. All in all, this year was a great Valentine's Day.

I started doing the Couch to 5k plan yesterday, and my legs are feelin' it today! It's kind of surprising because I didn't think it felt that difficult. But hey, pain is good. Tonight was yoga then back to Cto5k tomorrow. We'll see how far I get. I haaaatttee running but I've been watching "I Used to be Fat" on MTV and they always have them running. I'd like to be able to run a mile without walking/stopping. A 5k is pushing it for me, but one mile would be an accomplishment for me.

Time to go back to the couch for some TV time with Mom right now, though! :)

hotel tour: inn by the sea, cape elizabeth maine

I'm not sure if this is just a girl thing, or a me and the girls I know thing...but I love taking pictures of my hotel room when I go away. This past weekend, Boyfriend and I headed up to Cape Elizabeth, Maine for a weekend of relaxation in honor of Valentine's Day. I found the Inn by the Sea on Jetsetter (click HERE for an invite!). I am obsessed with Jetsetter because I love looking at fancy, amazing vacations and I love taking fancy, amazing vacations on a budget. We got a great deal on this hotel.

This is the back of the hotel, the side facing the beach. I'm sure it's lovely in the summer.

The big, comfy bed.

We had a fireplace in our room! I want my bedroom to look like this someday - bed, TV, fireplace. It was gas too, so you just flip a switch and - poof! - flames.

Here's the bathroom. L'Occitane bath products!

I took a picture of myself in the mirror. Boyfriend is in the background saying "Look! The toilet has two flushers!"

When we got to the room, room service brought us two marshmallows dipped in chocolate and rolled in graham cracker. That's when I knew this was the place for me.

Our shelf. This is where they put our bedtime cookies. Yes, they brought bedtime cookies. Shaped like hearts. Boyfriend ate the pink one.

Now I really just can't wait to go away again! I love vacations.

30 for 30: day 11

I've got some catching up to do, which has become typical lately. I'm just not used to taking so many pictures! Truth is, I miss my clothes and want to get through these 30 days ASAP. I mean, I know I can still wear my other clothes and just not count them, but that upsets me. So we're rushing. Let's call it winning. Yes, I am winning the 30 for 30.

Prepare to be inundated with photos from this past weekend:

These are from Saturday right after we got to our hotel. More on the hotel later. It was awesome. I could have moved right in. We went to walk around the grounds and came across this cute little gazebo. It was deep snow all around it, so this is as close as we could get. See Boyfriend's shadow there? Hehe. Not such great lighting for pictures, though.

[30 items: red cardigan, peach silk shirt, black shorts, black heeled boots (unseen)/rainboots - Hunter/tights - ?/necklace - borrowed from Mom/black coat - H&M]

You may notice I am not wearing shoes from my 30. For the rest of the day I was wearing my black heeled boots that were part of the 30, but for this little adventure I put on my Hunters. I decided it was okay. When we were in the elevator going downstairs, there was another family riding with us and the little girl had the same boots as me. Only hers were much smaller. We were boot twins. Yes, I did say all this to a three-year-old.

There is a path behind the hotel that leads down to the beach. It was beautiful walking down there at sunset. It must be even more beautiful during the summer. Along the way there was a little picnic area with tables and grills. The finally you get to the beach! I love the beach in the winter. It's so peaceful and serene. Unfortunately it is also freezing.

We only stayed for a few minutes. I splashed in the ocean with my boots and the focus got stuck on my camera and we couldn't figure out how to fix it so we headed back to the room to warm up. I wish we stayed for longer. I could have spent a whole week just cozied up there. Inside the hotel, not cozied up on the frigid beach.