Best way to start a new year...

...is with a new job! Without getting into details. let's just say I'm THRILLED to be starting a new job in 2011. I've been with my current company for seven years and was super nervous to interview with a new company. Totally different field, etc. I had to have a professional outfit for the interview and after agonizing for days (and emailing my friends constantly) I found the perfect outfit at Kohl's!

I almost match our shower curtain!!

Dress: Chaps
Blazer: Sag Harbor
Hose: No clue
Shoes: Cole Haan
Pearls: Gift

I'm in love with this dress. It's sooooo comfortable. Note I'm just under 5'3 and it hits just at my knee. If you're taller than me at all, it'll be on the short side. 

It's way dressier than my usual daily outfits and I'm sure I'll be dressing more like this now. We'll see how it affects my blogging. I can't possibly be more absent than I am now so let's hope it inspires me to post more often!

Happy 2011 everyone!!! xoxo

Unseasonably warm

It's 50 in Kentucky today. That's nuts considering it's been in the teens recently. It was so nice to leave my coat at home this morning!!

Cardi: Lands End
Tank: Lands End
Pants: Worthington via JCP
Belt: J. Crew
Shoes: Cole
Necklace: gift

Dang.

Still alive. Very stressed. However, I love today's outfit.

Sweater: Chaps ($9 at Kohl's)
Striped shirt: Chaps ($7 at Kohl's)
Denim skirt: Lands End
Tights: Merona
Boots: Fitzwell ($30 at 6pm.com outlet)
Watch: Liz Claiborne (from Santa)

I love the bone-like color of the watch with the gold. So pretty!!

Weekend outfit

I've really fallen off the outfit wagon, haven't I? I've been so obsessed with getting our house done that I can't think of anything other than paint, flooring and an occasional end table.

I wore this to meet up with Tracey for drinks and she asked me if I had taken a picture b/c I looked cute. Of course, I hadn't so I took this when I got home. I clearly need to find a good spot in the house for pics!

Cardi: Target

Top: Old Navy

Jeans:Old Navy (I hate these jeans and they've since been replaced)

Scarf:giveaway from Athena

Flats: Unlisted via 6pm.com Outlet (formerly Zappos Outlet)

I've only worn this scarf once before, but it is one of my favorites.

My beloved Sam Edelman flats are officially dead. I've had them resoled once but they're too worn out for that to even fix them this time :(

I went to the 6pm.com Outlet a couple of weeks ago in search of new black flats as I've had ZERO luck in stores. I found these for $15 and they'll do for now. They're not leather, but they're so darn cute I couldn't resist.

Unfortunately they rub my heel a little, so it'll take some more breaking in to see if they'll be a suitable replacement.



CSN Stores has kindly asked me to do a review for them and is sending me a $75 gift card. I'm awfully pumped and can't wait to share what I find with you all!

Pants!

We are finally having some beautiful fall weather here in Kentucky!!

Cardi: Target
Tank: Banana Republic
Pants: Worthington ($17 @ JCP)
Heels: Cole Haan Fiona
Necklace: gift

It's October? Really??

This weekend it was 91 in Louisville. That's hardly October-like temperatures, y'all. To say I'm not thrilled would be an understatement. I LOVE cooler weather and I'm convinced we're going to go right into winter and skip fall all together. We skipped spring so why not skip fall while we're at it?



Dress and cardi: Target
Shoes: Michael Kors

Casual outfits

Did I mention I didn't wear pants for 5 months? You know how easy of a rut that is to slip into. The spring weather is so nice, dresses feel so springy/summery...then the next thing you know, the air has turned cool and not a single pair of your pants fit. If you don't weigh yourself regularly, you can always tell if you've put on 5 or so by how tight your clothes are. Struggle to button your pants one morning? That's your sign to eat better that week. But when you wear a dress all the time? Not so much. The dress won't hold you accountable for all that beer and those burgers.

The air had a nice nip to it last week and I wanted to wear jeans. The only problem was that NONE OF MY PANTS FIT. Like, not a single pair. I'd given away my "very fattest" jeans and even my "fat" jeans wouldn't fit. Damnit. So off to Old Navy we went. Al had a pair of flip flops to return so I planned to use the credit toward a pair of new jeans. I found a pair (a size bigger than before. Ugh) and ended up paying $5 for them. Sweet! So here they are. Don't get used to them b/c they're going to be falling off of me soon!



Cardi: Target
Tank: Banana Republic
Jeans: Old Navy
Flats: Sam Edelman



I'm not very daring with the pattern mixing, but I know Kimberly would be proud of this!

I snagged this cute plaid dress off the clearance rack at Target for $5-something. It's so comfortable!



Dress: Converse/Target
Cardi: J. Crew
Flats: Liz Claiborne



I love the ruffle on this cardi and how it goes w/the ruffles on the dress. Little details like this always make an outfit come together I think.

Summertime Part 5: Anniversary

Despite my lack of photographical evidence on this site, I really did get married last September (09/09/09 to be exact). We celebrated our 1st anniversary and had a wonderful day together. We both took off work and just puttered around the city eating and stopping by interesting places.

We got married at Historic Locust Grove in Louisville, KY. It was a beautiful and perfect location. We made a stop by after brunch to take a walk around the grounds and took this pic of ourselves. Not bad for an iPhone!

I never did share any wedding pics so now's a good a time as any, right? All the photos below were taken by Jessica Powell of Vogue Visions Photography. She did a ridiculously amazing job and I still get all caught up in looking at them. She also has a blog post up of some more of our photos if you're just dying to see more :)

 This is the porch we got married on - The sun was setting and the sky was blue...perfection

 With my Mama and Daddy

 We're standing in the same spot as the pic we took our our anniversary...just facing the opposite direction.

 This pic cracks me up b/c Al's making some smart-a$$ comment to me through gritted teeth.

 Both of Al's parents have passed away so we had a candle in their memory.

 Isn't my Mama pretty?! This is one of my favorite pictures.

And now for the official "outfit" breakdown :)

Dress: J. Crew Sophia in Champagne

Sash: Ebay

blue brooch: QVC

necklace: QVC

bracelets: One from my Mama and one was Al's mom's

shoes: Christian Louboutin

I decided to "blow my wad" on accessories and not my dress. I figure I'll get WAY more mileage out of shoes and jewelry than I would a dress.

The brooch is WAY prettier in person. The QVC pic is just ugly compared to how sparkly and dynamic it really is.

The cuff is my Mama's. I bought it for her when I went to Australia and the other bracelet was Al's mom's. His sister gave it to me the week of the wedding. Together they were perfect with what I had in mind.

You can see my necklace a little better here. I made my bouquet myself from flowers from Kroger. Not bad for $35, huh?

And that's it!! I have tons and tons more of pics, but no one wants to look at that many :)

Summertime Part 4: Home remodeling

Y'all remember we bought a real fixer upper, right? That's putting it mildly. We're pretty much gutting and rebuilding each room as we go. So far, we're about 1/2 way done. The bathroom, kitchen/den, and hall are done. We have the living and two bedrooms left and since there's no plumbing there, it'll be a breeze compared to what we've done so far. I'll post some before/after pics once we put the finishing touches on the "done" rooms.

One of the last "big" projects for our kitchen/den was to put down flooring. This was a hell of a job. The room is 12 x 36 so it's VERY long and narrow. Originally the room was divided in two with different flooring on each half and built ins separating the space. I had a vision of it being one big room where we could watch TV, eat dinner, and be in the kitchen.

So far, so good!

We made a trip to Ikea to pick up some decorative items for our kitchen/den and I picked up this rug. For $24 I think it's perfect! I put a cheapie slipcover over our ugly (but very comfortable) couch so it doesn't stand out so much now. The coffeee table is a vintage one I got off Craigslist for $15. There are more Ikea goodies in the background!

 

We refinanced our mortgage too. The rates had dropped SO LOW that we could save $87K during the life of our mortgage. If we keep paying extra every month, we'll have it paid off in about 20 years.

I also got a little crafty and made this wreath (and a second one to match) for $4. I love Dollar Tree!!

Summertime Part 3: Vacation and events

We went on a little vacation/family reunion in August to Pigeon Forge, TN with Al's family. We had a terrific time and it was so nice to be away for a few days to just hang out.

 

Like how I had most of my body covered in towels so I didn't burn? That's my SPF 1000000, baby!

Our condo was the best one ever b/c it had an AUTOGRAPHED PHOTO OF DOLLY in it.

 I was a bridesmaid in one of my BFF and sorority sister's wedding and it was amazing. First of all, she was the most beautiful bride ever and second, it was the most fun wedding EVER. She's Greek Orthodox so not only was the ceremony interesting and special, but the reception was GREAT. 

 Pretty much the only proof Al and I went anywhere together all summer :)

Summertime Part 2: Animals

As I'm sure you remember, I have a sweet doggie, Maddy. She'll be 10 next month (!!!!!!!) and she's my BFF. I love her to pieces and she LOVES living out in the country. She runs around and sniffs and rolls and is having the time of her life.

In July Al and I got a wild hair (well, *I* got a wild hair) and decided we needed a farm cat to eat all the mice and vermin who run rampant. I got on Craigslist and found a lady with kittens and what do you know...we got one. She told us the kitty was a little girl so we named her Magnolia:

Isn't that the cutest kitten EVER?

The next morning, I awoke to Al drawing me a diagram and using hand motions to describe to me how he thinks Magnolia is a boy. I called foul and said we'd let the vet decide...and Magnolia was a boy. So a name change was necessary. Meet Maximus:

He is such a little shit, but I guess all kittens are. He's not very cuddly (unless he's gotten shots or is sick) and he'd rather climb a tree (or onto the roof like above) than play with me, but whatever. He's killed a mole so I don't care. Some more cuteness:

 He was sick in the last picture (I think he fell off the roof or out of a tree) which is the only reason he was letting me nuzzle him. He's back to 100% and back to hating me. Worry not, friends.

Now on to the sweetest girl in the world...my Maddy Dog. She's loving the kitten and mauls him with love. He smacks her and she pins him down and slobbers all over him. It's awfully cute.

 We'd just picked her up from my parents' house and she would NOT get out of the way so I could sit down. Al had to drag her to the middle.

 She loves to ride in the truck and watch what we're doing.

You can see how she likes to ride shotgun...and sit on my cardigan.

Summertime Part 1: Food & Gardening

Since Al and I are lucky ducks and live on a wonderful property with lots of space, we tried our hands at gardening. Unfortunately, we got a late start and didn't have quite the yield we'd have hoped for. Lesson learned :)

I spend more time cooking than I do thinking about outfits (remember, I wear the same 5 things all the time these days).

 I made my own mustard a few times. It's DELICIOUS.

 

Our neighbors have delicious eggs...

 

...and Al loves to eat them.

 We unloaded heaps of compost.

 

 The tomatoes and basil did well.

 And the yummy treats I made from them will always make my mouth water.

 I hate the heat, but I sure do love how pretty summer is.