pillowcase stripes

[Hat - Forever 21/Jacket - Bitten by SJP/Dress - H&M/Shoes - Aldo/Ring - H&M]

I loved this outfit. I know everyone has been buying this dress, but I just couldn't resist the bright colors and comfy shape. This will be so easy to just throw on all summer, add a few accessories, and be done. Of course, Boyfriend took one look at me and told me I looked like I was wearing a pillowcase. Boys. What do they know?

We finally got some warm weather this week and I've been able to wear more spring-like attire! I'm completely loving it. I feel like my whole closet is brand new!

The best thing about this dress is you can do so much with it. Add flip flops and a jean jacket and this becomes a bit preppy. Or like I did here, add a little leather jacket and black accessories and it gets a little punk. Put on a belt and heels and it gets dressed up. I'm loving this dress even more the more I think about it, haha.

One more day til Savannah!

my ideal life

Do you ever sit down and think about what your ideal life would be? I'm not even saying if you won the lottery or were rich and famous or something. I mean your ideal life in an attainable sense - your ideal life that doesn't depend on chance or luck but on your own decisions. I think about it a lot, maybe because I feel like it would be so simple to achieve it, and it's so close at hand, but is still just out of reach.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to work from home or at least have some kind of job where my schedule was super flexible. SUPER ideally I'd just stay at home and be a stay at home mom and housewife, but I think I'd get bored and Boyfriend wouldn't support me, ha. I want to be able to run my errands in the middle of the day, or sit outside and be able to do my work there. Or just stay under the covers all day when it's snowy and gross.  I just want someone to give me a laptop with whatever I need for my job on it and just send me on my way. Then i can work wherever and whenever I want.

It would be great if I could work for myself - writing maybe, maybe just temping or working a part time job here and there. I'm just not sure how to begin writing as a viable source of income. I'm not even sure I'm a good enough writer to even consider that. Of course the only way to know is to try, and I've never really tried.

I think this will be even more important to me when I have kids. I can't envision myself wanting to go back to work full time once I have a baby. I'd be too tired. And I wouldn't want to leave her (only girl babies!).  But who knows?

I just feel like I have all kind of options for how to live my life, and I don't know how to choose or which way to go. I think a lot of this stems from reading other girl's blogs and seeing what they're doing with their lives. I get totally jealous of these girls who have all kinds of time to do things during the day, or the girls who have these creative jobs that they love.

It's probably unrealistic to even dream about giving up my 9 to 5, as I don't think I'd be able to financially support myself without working full time like this, but who knows. Maybe I just haven't found my niche yet. Maybe there is something else out there for me, and my life just hasn't reached the turning point where it will all make sense yet.

I in no way mean to imply I am unhappy with my life right now. It's just really nice out today and I'd like to be outside, yet I am chained to this desktop. Curses.

inspired by: may 25, 2011

Today's Inspired By post is brought to you by Atlantic Pacific. As soon as I saw her in her red jeans and black patterned top, I knew I had to replicate the look. I'm a sucker for black and red together.

Here's her take:

Very glamorous, no? I'm always envious of the way she piles on the jewels and layers her clothes. I just don't have that kind of talent. It feels weird on me. I actually have a fur stole thingy, I should have layered it on - it was cold enough!

Here's my take:

[Blouse - H&M/Jeans - Forever 21/Shoes - Calvin Klein/Clutch - American Apparel/Jewelry - Fossil, gifts/Necklace - American Eagle]

I'm so upset the weather forced me indoors for these photos. I really loved how the outfit ended up looking. I felt very chic all day. I also snagged me one of those American Apparel clutches everyone seems to have now. I plan on copying Blair again and painting mine as well. I'm thinking a neon yellow color block on the bottom. My mom suggested studs, but I'm not super great with studding things.

Just add that to the list of DIYs I have piling up around here. Ugh. I need to set myself aside a day and just buckle down to get them done! I'll feel so much better and have lots of new things, haha.

I feel like everything I own lately is from H&M or Forever 21. Cheep chic all the way, baby. It only helps that these two stores are directly across from each other in the mall near my house. In and out. I keep promising myself I'm going to start buying better quality pieces - and I have been! - but my budget doesn't allow for me to spend a ton on everything I own. Of course, if I didn't buy five million cheap things I'd have a lot more money...oh the vicious cycle!

I am currently re-bamping my shoe wardobe. If it doesn't fit right or isn't comfortable enough it's going to Buffalo Exchange. These heels fall into that category. Too big! I think my feek shrunk - so many of my shoes are flopping off my feet now!

change of focus

[Jacket - Forever 21/Scarf - American Eagle/T-Shirt - American Eagle/Jeans - Old Navy/Shoes - Target]

Just have to make it through this week - then I will be Savannah bound! The weather here is still atrocious so the sunshine and heat will be a welcome change. I'm such a summer girl. I don't know what I'm doing living in this part of the country! 

Anyone have any suggestions for things to see/do/eat while I'm in Savannah? 

Not much happening around here. This past weekend I had a yoga workshop that kicked my butt. It was an arm balance workshop, and the back of my arms are sore and bruised from kneeling on them for two hours! But I managed to get into some poses I never dreamed I'd be able to do, so that was exciting. Now I can work on building up my strength and really mastering a few of them. The headstands will never happen for me though. I don't like being upside down like that. As soon as I get back from my trip I want to try a few new classes at my gym too. Mix up my workout schedule a bit for the summer.

I also saw Bridesmaids this weekend. Has anyone else seen it? What did you think? I thought they didn't take advantage of all the funny women they had in that cast. I don't want to give anything away, but there's a point in the movie when I would have taken things in a completely different direction and for me it was a missed opportunity. But I still laughed out loud quite a bit, so it wasn't a complete flop.

weekend update: may 14, 2011

These pictures are actually from last weekend and I am just now getting around to posting them. This is why I don't put myself on any kind of blog schedule - there is just no way I could ever stick to one.

Last Saturday Boyfriend and I headed into Cambridge to walk around Harvard Square and check out the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Groupon or LivingSocial or one of those coupon website had a two for one deal for the museum, and we thought it might be something interesting to do. Plus everyone knows the Urban Outfitters sale section in Harvard Square is the best. ;)

We walked around Harvard Square for a bit first, stopping in American Apparel so I could buy one of those floppy clutches everyone has now. I have a DIY project planned for it that I am very excited about. Then we Yelp-ed someplace to have lunch. We ended up at Russell House Tavern, which was serving brunch. Boyfriend was in the mood for breakfast, I was in the mood for lunch, so this worked out perfectly.

He had an egg sandwich with home fries and I had a grilled cheese with green salad and french fries. They were both delicious and we will definitely be going back there. They also had a ton of great beer choices and some really tasty and unusual sounding mixed drinks. I think we both would have been content staying there the whole day eating and drinking, but we did peel ourselves from the barstools to continue on our way.

Our next stop was Sweet for some cupcakes. I had a chocolate covered pretzel flavored one, since those are my weakness, and Boyfriend had a Bruins themed one (not pictured). They even had "Pupcakes" so we brought one home for Mia! She actually enjoyed it, considering what a picky eater she is.

We cut through a bit of the Harvard campus on our way to the museum. It's such a pretty place. The students were all moving out of their dorms on this particular day. It made me both miss and not miss college all at the same time, ha.

My favorite part of the museum was the geology stuff. Boyfriend actually was a geology major so I think he enjoyed showing off his expertise. I just liked all the colors and sparkles. They were all in glass cases, so the pictures didn't come out great. That pink and brown one is called Bieberite...we thought that was funny.

They also had tons of fossils and stuffed creatures and the like. The giant whale skeletons were cool, and Boyfriend enjoyed the evolution exhibit, ha.

It was a nice day all in all. It's always nice to do something different every once in awhile. We spend so much time laying around the house, we're trying to make more of an effort to think of things to do. Of course, the weather hasn't been helping in the least! Jamie and I are taking off to Savannah for Memorial Day weekend, so I at least have a little sunshine to look forward to!

it's a plaid world

[Sweater - Michael Kors via TJMaxx/Jeans - Old Navy/Scarf - H&M/Bag - Linea Pelle for Target/Boots - Seychelles]

I have a question. I want to add another column to my blog, but when I do that it makes all my pictures get all wonky and causes them to overlap the sidebars. Is there a way to change all my old pictures so they fit in the middle section? One that doesn't involve me manually fixing them all?

Anyway, life moves on, same as usual. Weather is still crappy. Mia (my dog) is in a deep depression since she hates rain and hasn't been outside to play in days. Boyfriend and I went to look at an apartment yesterday, which would have been perfect if only it was bigger. The price was right - $1000/mo all utilities included! But it was way too small. We're not really looking for a place right now, but since it was such a good deal we figured it couldn't hurt to look.

Well, I figured. He didn't want to go, but ended up getting all jolly about it once we got there. I think when the landlord said "you can keep your motorcycle in the garage" he was ready to pack up and move in right then.

I also had a pre-interview job phone call screening thing today. I applied for the position on a whim and they actually got back to me! That never happens. The commute wouldn't be very fun and the company actually got pretty bad employee reviews on glassdoor.com, but I figured the interview experience would be good to have. 

The lady was so nice on the phone, I feel bad about not wanting it. I didn't say I didn't want it, I still need to be passed along to the hiring manager for a decision, but I'm not going to take it. The pay is a bit better, but from the glassdoor.com reviews it sounds like the same kind of workplace I am in now, which is not what I am looking for. Just gotta keep hunting!

Think sun!!

what i'm reading: may 14, 2011

 

Water for Elephants

Sara Gruen

You may have noticed that I read really quickly. I can't help it, I've always been that way. Especially if I really like a book. And I really like this book. I figured if they were making it into a movie it must have some merit, and it did. The story was unique and had a good ending. I won't tell you what the ending is, in case you want to read it, but I liked it. And I don't like circuses one bit. So that's saying something. I suppose I ought to see the movie now, though something tells me it won't hold a candle to the book. The movies seldom do.

spring-a-ling

There is no joy in Mudville. Everything is rain and damp and gray. It's pretty depressing around here.

I know I've been MIA lately. Honestly, I've just been so lazy because of the weather. I also haven't been wearing anything very exciting. And then Blogger was apparently down for a few days last week. Excuses, excuses. I've just been lazy, okay!?

I snapped these early last week on a day when it was gray, but not raining. It's supposed to rain for the next ten days straight here. TEN DAYS. I want to cry. And pack my bags and move away. I always want to pack my bags and move away, though. I feel like I am always craving a new start. I just want to pick up and move someplace warmer. Find a new job. Be a new person. Is this a bad thing? Does anyone else ever feel like this? I wonder if it's something I should pay more attention to. Maybe I should just pick up and move away, while I'm young enough to get away with it. Hmm. Thoughts.

Anyway, I hope the weather has been nicer where you all live!

life lately: may 9, 2011

 

my pretty princess

we love lazy sundays

first game of the season!

completely obsessed with cashews right now

dessert at grammy's 

an old drawing of mine that grammy found. note the pattern mixing.

our mangy mutt watched the derby with us, this was the closest thing she has for a hat.

this my friends, is a red velvet shotcake. they have a bunch of flavors of cupcake and then they will inject it with ice cream for you. THEY PUT ICE CREAM IN THE MIDDLE. heaven.