Repost: A Tour of My Closet

The hardest part about moving in a couple of weeks is that I'm going to be leaving behind my closet. It is very unusual for houses this old (1920) to have decent closets. In fact, this closet is really an old sun room. My new house is even older (1916) and I don't have the option of converting some room into a closet. So I am sad. Everything else about this new house has me really excited, but not this.

So I give you an homage to my old closet:



It looks like the screen grab is showing my favorite part - shoes! But there on top of the light is my old highschool graduation hat.

Now show me your closet!

A Tour of My Closet

The hardest part about moving in a couple of weeks is that I'm going to be leaving behind my closet. It is very unusual for houses this old (1920) to have decent closets. In fact, this closet is really an old sun room. My new house is even older (1916) and I don't have the option of converting some room into a closet. So I am sad. Everything else about this new house has me really excited, but not this.

So I give you an homage to my old closet:



It looks like the screen grab is showing my favorite part - shoes! But there on top of the light is my old highschool graduation hat.

Now show me your closet!

When Cows Attack

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "I love that dress on you." We determined that it's because it's a wrap dress. We both agree that wrap dresses are figure flattering. Shocker, huh?

I was so comfy in this outfit that I wore it to work on Wednesday and then again for Thanksgiving on Friday. Yes, my family does Thanksgiving on Fridays. Always. It give our huge family time to travel. And I do mean huge. This year there were only 32 of us. That was a decrease.

What I Wore Twice This Week:

• wrap dress (NY&Co.)
• brown tights (Lane Bryant)
• brown flats (Old Navy)
• tan cardi (Lane Bryant via Goodwill)
• clear blue necklace (??)
• bright blue clip-on earrings (Goodwill)

Just for a little Thanksgiving fun:

We were out filling all the water tanks in the various pastures when the cows decided that we must really be there to give them treats. So they came running at us full force. It was hilarious.

What's Your Sign?

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "That's a pencil skirt, right?" He's trying to learn all the fashion appropriate terms. Isn't he sweet? "I don't think I've seen any of those clothes before." Nope. The shirt is out of my I'm Too Fat Closet, but clearly I'm not too fat. And the skirt is new. "Well, you look niiiiiiiice." I think he was flirting with me. LOL.

A word about this skirt. I love it and I hate it. It's a gorgeous purple tweed, it's fully lined, and it was only $30 at Target. Plus it fits me perfectly. But, with every step I took, it shifted about 1/2 inch counterclockwise. Seriously, my skirt ran laps around my body all day long. And the lining got really static-clingy. Sigh.

What I Wore While My Skirt Exercised:

• purple tweed skirt (Target)
• red tank (CAbi via Goodwill)
• plaid wrap blouse (The Limited)
• flats (Franco Sarto)
• necklace (key from antique store)
• earrings (inherited from Grandmother)

What I Ate That is Hidden:

I met a friend at the Zodiac Room in the original Neiman Marcus. It's just not an appropriate place to take pics of your food. And then I forgot at dinner. I think we'll just pic up food photos again after Thanskgiving.

BTW - Neiman Marcus is fully decorated for Christmas and it is gorgeous. Their ornaments for sale this year are ridiculous. Not only in price (that's to be expected at NM), but they are also just so weird.

Today's Post Brought To You By The Fog

It was really foggy this morning when I took my photos. I should have taken them inside, as a result, but we've started packing for our move, so there is not a clear space right now anywhere. Plus I thought the photos with all the fog spots were kinda fun. Also, today was another "real lawyer" suit day.

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "You look like you're getting your picture taken to go on a firm website." Just so you know, big law firms post pictures of all their attorneys. On photo day, all the attys wear black suits and are really polished. No risky or fun outfits on those days!

What I Wore as a Foggy Lawyer:

• black suit (Lanr Bryant)
• pruple striped shirt (Gap)
• black flats (Simply Vera via Kohls)
• faux pearls (thrift??)
• purple brooch (Etsy)

What I Ate:

Rand and I just scrounged around for food last night, no real dinner, so no pics.

Traveling Scarf!

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "It's so nice to see you in heels again." Agreed. I can't wait for my ankle to heel. I gave in and wore boots today b/c I just couldn't take it anymore. I didn't put them on until I got the office, to minimize the amount of walking I did in them. It was still a bad idea. Back to flats for me. :(

Kimberly's fabulous Traveling Scarf #1 made it's way to Texas this week. As soon as I got it, I knew I had to wear it the next day. As a couple of people have mentioned previously, the colors in the scarf are much more subtle and subdued than you expect. Once I saw the dove grey in the paisley pattern, I immediately thought of this grey jacket that I recently picked up from Goodwill. Plus I wanted to wear the scarf in a way that it had not been worn yet, so I tried a bib-style worn under the jacket lapels (I don't think anyone has done that yet). And it all just came together from there.

What I Wore With The Traveling Scarf:

• scarf (loan from Kimberly)
• grey jacket (Lane Bryant via Goodwill)
• hunter green dress (Target)
• grey striped tights (Lane Bryant)
• grey suede boots (Lane Bryant)
• red patent belt (Target)
• red earrings (vintage, borrowed from Maria)
• green ring (Etsy Dallas fair)

Thanks again for letting me participate. It was so much fun!

Girly Catch-up Lunch

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: No clue. He left for week even before I got out of bed. He went really early and I was a total slug-a-bed.

I met a couple of college friends for lunch at Monica's Aca y Alla where they have lunch specials for $5. Now that's my kind of lunch prices. And we're not talking sandwiches or salads. Mexican food! Delish but dangerous. And I totally forgot to take a picture, and I didn't eat breakfast b/c we had lunch so early, so no food pics from me today.

What I Wore For Another Day of Required Suits:

• maroon tweed jacket (Lane Bryant) *
• maroon skirt (Lane Bryant)
• lace shirt (Goodwill)
• pink slip, as color under the shirt, dyed by me (Goodwill)
• flats (Franco Sarto)
• flower pin (Target)
• nude fishnets (Target)
• silver earrings (via Ross)

* I was looking at this picture and I realized that since my bottom button is unbottuned it looks almost like my jacket is too small, but really it's just unbuttoned b/c you aren't supposed to button your bottom button on a suit jacket.

Exercise:

30 pushups

Yawn

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "You're wearing pants. hunh. You never wear pants." I wear jeans every weekend, but he's right. I don't wear slacks very much. Skirts are much more flattering to my figure. But I had to wear a suit to work today, and my options are limited right now since I've gained weight, so boring brown suit it was.

What I Wore That Was Banal:

• brown flecked suit (Lane Bryant)
• brown shell (Walmart)
• brown flats (Old Navy)
• brown earrings (street vendor in Austin)
• amber necklace (gift from Rand)
• leaf pin (Goodwill)

What I Ate While Having Girl Time:

• breakfast: cheesy egg, alternative bagel, cuties
• lunch: potato soup, 1/2 California club (Jason's Deli)
• snack: Franciskaner Dunkel
• dinner: Guinness beef stew, bread, beer (Old Monk)

Exercise:

20 pushups

80s Video Games

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "You look nice." I thought you hated this dress. "No. It's your Q*Bert dress. It reminds me of Q*Bert." Indeed it does.

I don't if any of you are old enough to remember Q*Bert, but I know I played it a time or two when I was a kid. I have no clue what it was about anymore, but Rand is dead-on when he noticed that the pattern on the dress is exactly the same as the Q*Bert board.

What I Wore 27 Years After Q*Bert Premiered:

• dress (Old Navy)
• blue sweater (Goodwill)
• black satin flats (via Kohls)
• grey necklace (Rainbow)
• silvertone/black pleather bracelet (via Ross)

What I Ate After Bailing On Dinner Plans:

• breakfast: cheese egg, alternative bagel, 3 cuties
• lunch: buddig sandwich, 2 carrots, 1/2 zucchini, large apple, string cheese
• snack: veggie bar, yogurt, banana
• dinner: spaghetti with meat sauce, spinach, garlic toast

Exercise:

30 pushups

Bungalo Goodness!

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: " You look cuter than I do. I need to change." This started a cuteness war, which resulted in him changing clothes and declaring he looked cuter than I. Bah.

We did a little more house hunting, which resulted in us finding The House - a cute craftsman bungalo built in 1916. Then we were off to a friend's house to watch the Cowboys game.

What I Wore While Wondering Why The Cowboys Can't Connect:

• teal silk skirt (Old Navy)
• pink tank (Old Navy)
• green cardi (Target)
• green/blue houndstooth flats (Old Navy)

Black Dress Challenge Week

A while ago, Maria suggest that I follow the lead of this woman and wear the same black dress every day for a month. I didn't feel like I would want to do an entire month of that, but I tucked it away in my brain to do as a week-long challenge in the future. And that week has come. In fact, in case you hadn't notice, it was last week.

I wore a basic black T-shirt dress from the Gap. Here is my week roundup:

(click to enlarge)

I'm in the process of uploading my entire wardrobe to Flickr. Right now most of my jewelry is up there, but that's it. But I'm thinking it might be fun to do an homage to this black dress by hearing suggestions of how you think I should wear it. Now all I have to do it get my clothing posted up there too.

Tina

Finally Fall

Well I think it is finally Fall in Dallas, but don't quote me on that. I did some more house hunting today and there were so many leaves down in all the yards. It was so pretty. One house had a pecan tree in the backyard and there were pecans everywhere. It's an unoccupied house, so I took a handful home with me.

What I Wore While Harvesting Fallen Pecans:

• black cotton dress (Gap)
• jean jacket (so very very old)
• shoes (Sketchers)
• graffiti belt (via Kohls)
• earrings (Payless)

Purple People Eater

I highly recommend playing this song while you read today's blog post.

Okay now that's going, it's time for comments from Rand.

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "You look like a purple people eater." This comment of course prompted some singing while I finished getting ready for work.

What I Wore While Looking Like Something With One Horn and One Eye:

• black cotton dress (Gap)
• grey fishnets (Target)
• purple cardi (Target)
• purple floral scarf (Goodwill)
• purple earrings (??)
• purple brooch (inherited from Grandma)
• wine (brought to me my Rand when I walked in the door)

What I Ate While Working Late:

• breakfast: cheesy egg, banana, hot tea
• lunch: leftovers from the office kitchen
• snack: yogurt
• dinner: sweet potato and kidney bean burritos

Exercise:

40 pushups

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day!!! I don't know about you, but all 3 of my grandfathers were WWII vets: two in the army and one in the marines. My dad was a marine during Vietnam, and my mom and stepfather were both in the Navy during the first Gulf War. So Veteran's Day means a lot to me. I was really bummed out when I got to work and realized that I forgot to wear my veteran's pin that my grandfather gave me.

What I Wore While Watching a Parade:

• black dress (Gap)
• striped vest (Lane Bryant outlet)
• black flats (Simply Vera via Kohls)
• faux pearl necklaces (4 various strands from a variety of sources)
• faux pearl bracelet (Goodwill)
• faux pearl earrings (I don't remember)
• white/silver braided belt (Goodwill)
• silver brooch, holding vest cinched in the back (via Ross)

What I Ate That Other People Provided:

A coworker had some extra fruit this morning, so I ate that for breakfast. Then my employers brought in lunch. They had said they were going to bring in sandwiches and salad froma certain bakery, so I planned accordingly. Then they actually brought in pizza and pasta. I overate. sigh.

Exercies:

40 pushups

Bonus Video:

In case you didn't get to see your own parade, here is a little snippet of the one that went through downtown Dallas. We stood on the curb outside our building and watched part of it. But it was so long that we had to go back to work before the end. I think it lasted over an hour.

Victorian Inspired

A coworker recently turned me onto Greek. They have all of the episodes on Hulu, so I'm in hte middle of the first season. So far I really like it. I didn't rush in college, so I keep asking my coworker (who did) how realistic it is. With a few exceptions, she says it's spot on. So I find it fascinating.

What I Wore While Watching Greek:

• black cotton dress (Gap)
• sheer blouse (Newport News)
• black flats (Simply Vera via Kohls)
• studded belt (Goodwill)
• fly brooch and oval brooch (Goodwill)
• circle flower brooch (from Grandma)
• cameo earrings (vintage shop in Austin)

What I Ate While Cleaning Out Leftovers from the Fridge:

• breakfast: cheesy egg, alternative bagel, 1/2 apple
• lunch: wilted spinach, pork, carrots, cheese stick
• snack: yogurt
• dinner: homemade veggie pizza

Exercise:

20 pushups. Sheila inspired me and now it's my turn. Two other women at work have also started doing pushups at work. Yay!

Total for the Day: 20 pushups, 28 points

Bad Blogger

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I've been so lax about posting this week. I've been working longer hours and I've been so tired that I've been going to bed really early. But I have been taking pics, so I'm planning on a marathon photo editing session later today. Then I'll get everything posted.

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger. I promise to do better next week.

Tina

Realtors Galore

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "You look really good today." I was bending over when he said this, so I don't think he was really talking about my outfit. "I think I look like a realtor from the 80s." "Yeah, you kinda do. You look good though." LOL

So I was a realtor and then we met a realtor Monday night who took us around to look at some rental houses in our area. We saw some really nice places. Man, I have got the new house bug bad.

What I Wore While Showing Looking At Houses:

• black cotton dress (Gap)
• green jacket (Goodwill)
• green/orange/blue sating scarf, worn as bracelet (Goodwill)
• orange necklace and earrings (birthday gift from future sis-in-law)
• green loafers (Discount Shoe Store)

What I Ate B/C It Was Too Late Too Cook:

• breakfast: cheesy egg, alternative bagel, 1/2 apple
• lunch: 3 oz pork chop, spinach, carrots, 1/2 apple, cheddar cheese stick
• snack: yoplait yogurt, Yotta bar
• dinner: 3 slices of olive pizza

Exercise:

20 pushups

In Honor of Hillary

Recently, Hillary blogged about how much she loves black and white striped shirts. The next day I was at Goodwill, looking for patterned shirts to add to my wardrobe (everything I own is a solid, I swear) and I came across a really nice feeling B&W striped shirt, which made me think of Hillary. Of course I had to buy it. On it's inaugural wear I decided to pair it with some red in honor of the big red bow she's been wearing on her hat.

So here's to you Hillary...

What I Wore In an Homage To byHillary:

• jeans (curvy jeans, Gap)
• B&W white striped T (Goodwill)
• black loafers (Liz Claiborne)
• red necklace (goodwill)
• red beaded chain bracelet (Goodwill)
• red flower pin, worn on necklace (Target)

What I Ate on a Lazy Friday:

• breakfast: cheesy egg, alternative bagel, 1/2 large HoneyCrisp apple
• lunch: 1/2 large HoneyCrisp apple, buddig sandwich, sugar snap peas, carrot
• snack: yogurt, veggie bar
• dinner: zucchini and squash pasta

Burberry Goodness!!

On my home from work yesterday, I stopped off at Goodwill. After I looked at everything for me, I wandered over to the men's coat section to see if they had any raincoats for Rand. Lo and behold there was a men's Burberry trench coat!! In my size!!!

My first instict was to keep it, but since it doesn't have a belt, it's not the most flattering to my figure. So I might decide to sell it. I was shocked when I looked it up on their website. A new one costs $1300. Yikes!

What I Wore Underneath Burberry:

• black/green/blue bubble dress (Goodwill)
• black cowlneck sleeveless sweater (Lane Bryant)
• black flats (Simply Vera by Vera Wang via Kohls)
• skinny black belt (Target)
• blue earrings (street vendor in Austin)
• blue necklace (birthday gift from future sister-in-law)*

* She knows that I love fashion and that I love used items even better than new, so she bought me this and a bunch of other stuff from a local consignment shop. Yay!! She's so awesome.)

What I Ate After Rand Forgot to Defrost the Pork Chops:

• breakfast: cheesy eggs, 2 cuties, onion alternative bagel
• lunch: grilled chicken wrap, snow peas, apple, carrot
• snack: Gen Soy bar, yoplait yogurt, banana
• dinner: red beans and rice with sausage, side salad
• dessert: ice cream stick

Exercise:

40 pushups

Total for the Day: 3 glasses of water, 40 pushups, 30.5 points

I am a Volunteer Attorney

Today I had a meeting with my mentor attorney to discuss a pro bono case I took on a couple of months ago. I used to do a lot of pro bono work, but it's been a few years. It's good to be back to it. It's good to help people out and I get to learn how to do cases that I would not normally encounter in my day to day legal career. So it's a win-win situation.

What I Wore To Legal Aid of North Texas:

• skirt (Merona, swap!!)
• orange T with floral cutouts (Jeremy Spencer via Marshalls)
• plaid tweed jacket (Target)
• brown flats (Old Navy)
• orange earrings (?? via Ross?)
• stretch belt (Dots)
• new hair color (Herbal Essences Spiced Tea) *

* My hair is so dark that I don't ever get red hair, I just get a nice auburn sheen to it.

What I Ate Before Buying 5 lbs of Carrots:

• breakfast: cheesy egg, 3 cuties, alternative bagel
• lunch: chicken and avocado sandwich, honeycrisp apple, yoplait *
• snack: Gen Soy bar, lite cheese stick, small banana
• dinner: 4 oz grilled chicken, corn on the cob, side salad
• dessert: WW ice cream bar

* No lunch-time veggies today b/c I forgot to go to the store on my way to work. Otherwise I would have had carrots. I picked up a 5 lb bag on the way home, so I am set for the rest of the week.

Exercise:

40 incline pushups, various leg lifts

Total for the Day: 29 points, 30 pushups, 5 glasses of water

I'm a Stalker!

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "You look very Fall-y"

I started today off with a little stalking. Don't worry, I was stalking a house. We're considering moving, so I drove by a house of interest on my way to work. That's when I noticed that it was unoccupied. Score! Snooping in open windows is fair game in an empty house (not so much for one with people or stuff in it). I love looking at houses, especially really old ones like where we live. They have such charm and fun nooks and crannies. My current home was built in 1920 and I love it. Glass doorknobs! What's not to love?

What I Wore While Stalking a House:

• mushroom and orange skirt (Merona, swap!!)
• cream shell (Target)
• mushroom cropped cardi (Merona, Goodwill) *
• brown flats (Madeline)
• amber necklace (hand-me-down from a friend)
• silver "elephant hair" bracelet (Dallas Safari Club Convention)

* The cardi is not sheer. The flash just shined right through it.

What I Ate While Calling Realtors:

• breakfast: cheesy egg, alternative bagel, 3 cuties, hot tea
• lunch: mish mash of leftovers with pasta, spaghetti squash, tomatoes, and laughing cow cheese; yogurt; giant honeycrisp
• snack: 1/2 alternative bagel, Geny Soy bar, small banana
• dinner: healthy taco salad, diet margarita
• dessert: WW ice cream bar

Total for the Day: 5 glasses of water, 40 pushups, 28 points

Chores Swap

Rand and I switched household chores for the month of November. As a result, he is doing the grocery shopping, and taking the lead in cooking. And I am doing the laundry, and doing all the dishes. So of course, on the first day of this switch, the dishwasher breaks.

What I Wore While Meeting the Repairman:

• black shirtdress (The American Shirtdress Company, Goodwill)
• camel tank, overdyed by me (Max Mara)
• brooch, worn as shirt embellishment (Goodwill)
• leopard ponyhair flats (Steve Madden) *
• black enamel & goldtone bracelet (Old Navy)
• gold earrings (hand-me-down from Mom)

* Since my ankle is injured and it's going to take 6 weeks to heal, you are going to be seeing a lot of these flats. And my black satin flats. I have about 6 pairs of flats but not all of them are work appropriate, so expect to be bored by my shoes choices for the next shoe weeks. And cut me a little slack if they aren't the perfect choice for whatever my outfit is. :)

What I Ate While Rand Tookover the Cooking:

• breakfast: scrambled egg w/ laughing cow cheese, alternative bagel, 3 cuties
• lunch: Buddig pastrami sandwich, corn and blackbeans, and lite yogurt
• snack: Gen Soy bar, lite string cheese
• dinner: faux chicken parmesan, spaghetti squash, garlic bread, a little bit of red wine (I gave the rest to Rand)
• dessert: WW english toffee crunch ice cream bar

Exercise:

Inspired by Sheila and my current inability to do much in the way of exercise, I started doing incline pushups at work. I wasn't sure how many I could do without getting too sore for the next day, so I just did 30 on Monday. Depending on how my arms feel, I'll do more tomorrow. I also did some leg lifts and other non-cardio exercise.

Total for the Day: 28 points, 6 glasses of water, 30 pushups