CopyCat: Kimberly

I decided that since Kimberly was so awesome and generous to lend me one of her favorite necklaces, that I needed to do a little homage to both her and the necklace. So I decided to copycat her look from the last time she wore the necklace. Check out her original look (aren't her shoes to die for?? This girl has serious style.) I am so glad that I copied this look. I felt so polished and professional all day long. Thanks, Kimberly!

Today's Random Photo Location: carwash parking lot

I tried out some mad modeling skills with some great leaning against the wall in various positions (since the Lane Bryant photographer kept telling me how it can make a great relaxed photo) but all those pics looked idiotic. I am def not a model. So you get my basic pose. At least you can see all the clothing!

What I Wore At the Car Wash, Yeah:

• black slacks (Lane Bryant)
• white T (Target)
• grey jacket (Lane Bryant via Goodwill)
• sandals (compliments of Lane Bryant)
• gold necklace, worn as bracelet (via Macys)
• gold earrings (via Macys)
• purse (inherited from my grandmother)
• necklace (borrowed from Kimberly)

What I Ate That Wasn't As Good As I Remember It Being:

• breakfast: 1/2 c. nonfat greek yogurt (local dairy), 1/2 c Fiber One, 3 oz blackberries
• lunch: 2 Hebrew National 97% fat free franks, 2 Whitewheat hotdog buns, Progresso Lite Zesty Vegetable soup, kale chips, yellow squash
• snack: SoyJoy, orange, string cheese
• dinner: Hoisin Glazed Chicken with Cabbage Slaw, garlic toast (forgot to make the rice, so we had this instead), 1 glass white wine
• dessert: mini mincrowave cake * with blueberries, 10 almonds

* I don't use soda when I make this. I find that it makes the cake too gummy. I use unsweetened almond milk for a great cake that tastes like a normal cake, but is still super low in calories.

Total for the Day: 30 points, no exercise

Fiber is Your Friend

Kimberly has a wonderful coral colored necklace that I've been eyeballing from the first time she wore it. Well, I somehow convinced her that she and I should swap some items, including that necklace. It came to me with on simple restriction - I had to give it back to her after a week. Do you know what that means? Does it mean I only get to wear the lovely thing once before sending it back? NO! It means you are going to see me wear it every day this week, or at least until I can't find anything else to wear with it.

The dental hygenist thought it was a great necklace too. I was worried she might steal it from me while I was incapacitated on the chair, but she kept her fingers in my mouth and off the necklace. Whew! Close one!

What I Wore While Getting My Teeth Cleaned:

• skirt (Lane Bryant)
• blouse (Old Navy)
• belt (Ross?)
• shoes (compliments of Lane Bryant)
• earrings (Target)
• necklace (borrowed from Kimberly)

What I Ate That Had TOO Much Fiber:

• breakfast: skim greek yogurt (local farm), blackberries, Fiber One
• lunch: homemade brocolli soup (not brocolli cheese soup, just brocolli), low cal hot dogs, orange
• snack: Soy Joy, orange (not pictured: 3 points)
• dinner: sausage link, kale chips, squash & basil salad
• dessert: low fat ice cream sandwich (not pictured: 3 points)

You are now entering the world of TMI: I'm usually a pretty healthy girl, but I go on benders where I eat nothing but crap for a few months. That's where I've been recently. And since I just got back on the healthy food, let's just say it's been a little shocking to my body. Poor body. Mistreated with grease and sugar and salt. Then beat up with fruit and veggies. Luckily the body will adjust.

Total for the Day: 22.5 points (oops this is way too low. I need to be eating 29 or 30 right now, but I didn't count them until the next morning.)

Purple Week Day #9??

I gave up on wearing my purple, b/c honestly I was just sick of it. Too much color. Yuck. I totally overcompensated today with an all black outfit. And then as I was walking out the door, I grabbed this jacket. I thought "oh it's perfect. A tiny bit of color and pattern that won't clash since I am wearing all black." And then in the car I noticed...it's got purple in it! AACCKKKK!!!! I can't escape the purple.

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "You look like a goth chick. You look like a wannabe-vampire douche." Nice. But he also thought that the shirt I was wearing under the dress was hot, so maybe he has a thing for wannabe-vampire, goth douches?

What I Wore Underneath the Sneaky Purple:

• black lace shell (Lane Bryant)
• black shirt dress (American Shirt Dress Co. via Goodwill)
• black fishnet tights (Target?)
• black cotton necklace, worn as bracelet (made by Maria)
• black brooch, worn on bracelet (via Goodwill)
• black suede wedges (I can't remember)
• vintage black sequin screw-back earrings (via Goodwill)

What I Did While Watching More Biggest Loser on Hulu:

Don't forget to sign up to enter the Shoes Got Sole giveaway.

Purple Week Day #9

The battery in my camera has died. No big deal, right? Just plug it in and charge it. Hmmm. I haven't had to use it since we moved and I cannot find it anywhere. I've looked in all the likely places, so it's probably somewhere really random like the bottom of a purse I used a few months ago. But since I use my camera every day, I can't wait to stumble upon it. So I bought another one on Amazon. Until it arrives, you'll have to suffer through dark, blurry photos taken with my blackberry. Even though I messed with the color in GIMP, I still couldn't take all the excess yellow out of the pic. Look at those Big Bird colored legs!

What I Wore While The Camera Made Me Look Jaundiced:

• lavendar tweed skirt (Lane Bryant)
• red tank (CAbi via Goodwill)
• purple plaid wrap blouse (The Limited)
• magenta heels
• silver ring necklace (Macys)
• silver ring earrings (?)
• silver brooch, worn at belt (via Goodwill)

What I Ate Going Out To Thai Lotus:

• breakfast: cheesy egg, alternative bagel, pear, Diet DP
• lunch: sugar snap peas, apple, cheese stick, salmon burger
• snack: graham crackers (Jason's Deli)
• dinner: vegetable pad thai

What I Did That Should NOT Count As Exercise:

Fitness Essentials Bellydancing for Abs

LeShaun very generously gave me this workout DVD a few months ago, but this is the first time I had the opportunity to try it out. Sadly, I won't be using it again. It was pretty lame. I thought it was pretty clear that the instructor had no background in belly dance at all. She looked awkward, and did not explain the moves well at all. Also, the music has no connection to anything she was doing nor did it fit the style of the workout. If I had to guess, I would say that the video was filmed sans music and then this other music was dubbed in later. It was very odd.

I did not even work up a mild sweat.

Purple Week Day #8

Wait! There are only 7 days in a week, right? Well, a coworker commented that she couldn't believe that I had enough purple clothing to wear purple every day for a week, so I decided to wear purple until I ran out of items (no repeats). So more purple!

I had so many people ask me what was different with my hair today - if I had died it a darker color or what. Even Rand thought I had gotten it cut. But it's just the return of faux bangs. I do this every once in a while. It helps prevent me from cutting bangs when I am getting bored with my hairs. See, about every 7 years or so, I go into a salon and ask for bangs, despite the fact that every time in my past that I have done this has been a disaster. My hair is not made for bangs. I have a small forhead, whispy hair in the front, and waves. I basically end up with a frizz pile on my forhead. Plus, it's not good for my round face. Then I discovered faux bangs. Perfection! I can play for a day with no committment, AND since it's just hair pinned to the side, it lays flatter and smoother than real bangs would on me. Yay!

What I Wore With Faux Bangs:

• purple cardi (Target)
• green tweed skirt (Lane Bryant)
• grey suede boots (Lane Bryant outlet)
• green necklace (Lane Bryant)
• green earrings (Ross?)

Purple Week Day #7

We had some friends over for Sunday brunch. I made dutch apple pancakes, real bacon(!!), mimosas, and bloddy marys. We had a great time.

What I Wore While Drinking Mimosas:

• black dress (Gap)
• purple/black plaid flats (Steve Madden)
• purple cardi (Rainbow)
• feather headband (Target)
• mimosa (me!)

Purple Week Day #5

Casual Friday! I tried on several purple outfits this morning. I know that this one is more subtle since the purple is under another color, but I've been wanting to wear this grey sweater jacket of mine ever since byHillary wore her brown peplum sweater jacket.

What I Wore That Was Moderately Purple:

• purple T (Diays Fuentes via Kohls)
• grey sweater jacket (Nine West)
• jeans (curvy, Gap)
• fishnet socks (Lane Bryant)
• purple flats (via DSW)
• brooch (borrowed from Maria)
• pin (from my lawschool)
• necklace (hand-me-down from Magnolia)
• earrings (via Ross?)
• silver chain headband (Target)

Purple Week Day #4

Today I decided to do a homage to Kasmira and her Red Hat Society Experiments, so I paired red with purple today. This gave me perfect opportunity to bust out my new cardigan, my new red trench coat, and my new necklace, all of which I got at Goodwill a few weeks ago. I only bought three things at Goodwill that day and they were all red. LOL

I picked a wonderful day to wear fur and suede shoes - it rained all day long. Luckily I had a backup pair of heels at work so I changed into them in order to leave.

What I Wore While Joining The Red Hat Society:

• purple dress (Old Navy)
• red cardi (Eddie Bauer via Goodwill)
• nude pantyhose (Hanes)
• red suede shoes w/ fur poofs (J. Renee)
• brooch (inherited from grandma)
• goldtone belt (via Goodwill)
• red necklace (via Goodwill)
• earrings (stolen from a friend)

What I Did While Vowing to Clean Out My Closets:

Purple Week Day #3

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "You're very coordinated today. Your skirt matches your bib scarf; your sweater matches your bib scarf."

Yep. It's a bib scarf. Before it got smooshed under my coat on the way home from work, the edges of the scarf on my shoulders were fluffed up and it created a faux boatneck. I really enjoyed the affect. And you can see that my sleek side bun had loosened and dropped a little by the end of the day. Oh well. I felt very polished most of the day.

What I Wore That Got Droopy:

• purple skirt (Lane Bryant)
• black T (Old Navy)
• camel cardi (Kathie Lee via Genesis Thrift Store)
• skinny black belt (Target)
• ostrich pumps (Chinese Laundry via DSW)
• faux pearl earrings (new via Goodwill)
• silk scarf (via Goodwill)

What I Did After 10 Days of Nothing:

Hopefully this will be the start of a new groove. I went to bed earlier last night, so it was easier to get up this morning and workout. I've discovered that despite the best of intentions, I almost never workout after work. I'm too tired. So it's early morning or nothing. I bought some external speakers for my "workout station" to plug my laptop into. Now I can actually hear Hulu when I'm on the treadmill. Love it!

Purple Week Day #2

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "I like pencil skirts." That's it folks. No nearly as entertaining as the Sleep Talking Man, but as long as I'm not getting negative feedback, it works for me!

What I Wore While Laughing At The Ramblings of a Sleeing Man:

• purple tweed pencil skirt (Target)
• lilac lace shell (Liz Claiborne)
• grey cashmere sweater (Old Navy)
• snakeskin belt (Dots)
• black buckle pumps (Nicole Miller)
• silvertone earrings (new via Goodwill)
• silvertone brooch (Goodwill)

I've been having a hardtime squeezing in exercise b/c I've been working 11 hour days, but I'm determined to get some in tomorrow.

Purple Week Day #1

As I was selecting outfits on Sunday, I noticed that my first 3 had purple in them. Well, far be it from me to ignore that, so I swapped out my fourth outfit to something with purple. I don't usually plan my casual Friday outfits in advance, so I only pick out four outfits each Sunday. But I know I've got a couple of choices to stick with the purple theme come Friday. And I told some coworkers that it's purple week and I think they are going to throw on some purple tomorrow too. Yay! I love a good community play-along event.

I had to run home in the morning to meet the plumber. I hate leaving work in the middle of the day, bu it meant I got some pics in the natural light. Always a plus.

What I Wore While the Plumber Fixed 2 Leaky Faucets:

• black dress (you know it, you love it, it's still from the Gap)
• purple white jacket (Simply Vera via Kohls)
• purple harlequin (Lane Bryant)
• black patent pumps (Payless)
• white beaded necklace (via Goodwill)
• silvertone/mother of pearl bracelet (gift from my sis)
• white studded belt (new via Goodwill)
• silvertone/mother of pearl earrings (inherited from Grandmother)
• grey pashmina (Worth via Goodwill)
• grey pearl/rhinstone brooch (St. Vincent de Paul thrift store)

$20 Challenge Roundup

If you can't see Friday, this combo photo is formatted to be viewed in full in Google Reader.

I really enjoyed Kasmira's $20 Challenge. I managed to wear all new pieces every day, with the exception of wearing my black skirt twice. This was a fashion choice because I wanted to wear my plaid shoes on Thursday and my other low-cost skirts would not have matched. The toughest part was finding work appropriate shirts that fit into my budget. Some days I managed to squeeze in a purse, and on other days I barely managed to fit in any jewelry. I feel like I had an advantage because a few years ago a friend was cleaning out her jewelry box and I took a lot of her cast offs.

My most expensive item: black patent heels & brown/cream A-line skirt -$10

Least expensive (but not free) item: silver circle earrings $0.26

Thanks, Kasmira! I can't wait to see everyone's looks!!

Slow Day?

Friday morning Rand was distracted from taking my photos for me. What caught his eye? This -----> little guy. Or big guy actually. He's a little smaller than a golf ball. He was out for a morning cruise.

This concludes my week participating in Kasmira's $20 Challenge.


What I Wore While Rand Took Nature Photos:

• brown & cream linen A-line skirt (Target) $10
• yellow short sleeve blouse (thrifted, Goodwill) $3
• brown flats (Old Navy) $5
• brass earrings (Xmas gift from Aunt) free
• Amber necklace (birthday gift from Rand) free
• brown leather & brass belt (thrifted, Goodwill) $1.50

Total for the Day: $19.50

Guest Blogger - Maria Part III

Maria graciously agreed to participate in the $20 Challenge this week.
_________________

I got the offer letter, signed on the dotted line and start as the Investor Relations Manager on Monday. Thank goodness for promotions! And little did they know, I'm wearing a bunch of (nearly embarassingly) cheap clothing. Tee hee hee hee.

What I Wore During My Last Day at My Old Job!!!!!:

• Dress: Walmart, On sale $5
• Sweater: Target, On sale $4.99
• Shoes: Off Price Shoe Warehouse $5.99
• Necklace: From my unusable-for-pursehook vintage jewelry stash.... $.50???

Total: $14.98

___________

The first time I saw Maria wear these shoes, I fell in love. So she took me to the store where she bought them and now we both have a pair. I know it's hard to tell from the pciture, but they are a slightly aquamarine blue patent, with a cream buckle detail. I might have to lookfor this dress too. It's a great sheath.

Don't Look Down!

Recently the window washers have been doing all the buildings in our area, my office building included. These guys are sitting on a wooden board about 1 foot square, hanging from a rope. They don't even use a rope to keep their brushes attached, which could really be a problem if they ever dropped one, since the are up so high. This photo is of one guy abou 16 stories up. It was fascinating to watch him get over the wall and onto the little board. SCARY!



What I Wore While Watching the Window Washers:

Clearly, I need to go get fitted for some new bras. The high waist of this skirt combined with this bra is a bad combo. Other than my need for support, I was happy with this outfit.

• black/white geometric skirt (thrifted, Goodwill) $3
• black short sleeve gathered T (Old Navy) $5
• black patent shoes (Payless) $10
• turquoise fabric belt (via Ross) $1
• white seed bead necklace, worn as bracelet (H&M) $1
• two tone circle earrings (Target, thrifted new stock, Goodwill) $0.26
• black embroidered purse (inherited from grandmother) free

I could have skipped the earrings and been completely under $20, but I felt that it was within the spirit of the $20 challenge to wear earrings that I got new for 26 cents. Also, I debated wearing te necklace as a bracelet or as a necklace. I think made the wrong choice. My top looks very barren. And it just occurred to me that I could have worn 1/2 of the strands as a necklace and 1/2 as a bracelet. Doh!

What I Ate After Exploring Jewelry With Maria:

• 2 oz. whole wheat linguini
• 3/4 c. pasta sauce
• 1 oz longhorn beef meatballs
• roasted brocolli

What Maria and I Did When We Were Supposed To Be At the Gym:

I was supposed to meet Maria at the gym after work but she was running late, so I decided to stop by her house to pick her up. This is never a good idea. When it's time to go to the gym, you go to the gym. Actually going inside a friend's house is a recipe for disaster. While she put on her workout clothes, I started digging through all her vintage jewelry that she has to make purse hooks out of. Uh uh. She sat down next to me. We never made it to the gym. Instead we pulled out piece after piece, then tried them all on to see if we could "rock it" or not. We each selected a couple of items to wear next week. And Maria didn't believe me when I said she could rock a certain item, so she challenged me to wear it and not look stupid. I brought it and several really cool items home. They will all make their appearance next week. Feel free to guess which one is the challenge.

Total for the Day: $20.26, 1746 calories, 5 glasses of water, 1 hr jewelry inspection "exercise" hehe

Tip: Dairy Should Stay in the Fridge

Today I made some bad food choices, but not te kind you think. My calories were within range, but I ate some yogurt that had been sitting out on my desk for quite some time and I added some cream to my coffee that had also been sitting out. I'm pretty brave about things like this, and today it was the wrong choice. Enough said.

What I Wore While Eating Questionable Food:


This is day 2 of my attempt at the $20 Challenge.

• black pencil skirt (George/Walmart, thrifted new Goodwill) $3
• aqua tank (Mossimo/Target) $4
• aqua/black/white paisley dolman sleeve wrap shirt (La Vita, thrifted Goodwill) $3
• silvertone/turquoise bead stretch bracelet (thrifted, Goodwill) $0.79
• silvertone/black bead necklace (hand-me-down from a friend) free
• aqua earrings (Target) $2.66
• black wooden bead belt (thrifted) $2
• black scarf (thrifted) $1 *
• black buckle pumps (Circa by Joan & David, hand-me-down from a friend) free
• black snakeskin clutch (thrifted, Goodwill) $3

* I attempted to wear a scarf in my hair a la Diana but it didn't work for me very well.

What I Ate While Watching Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels:

• jambalaya
• turkey sausage

Total for the Day: $19.45 outfit, approx 1800 calories, 6 glasses of water

Thanks for all the stuff, Grandma!

I've decided to take up the $20 challenge. In fact, I'm going to make an attempt to compose not one $20 outfit, not two $20 outfits, but an entire week of $20 outfits!! I do not have them all planned out yet, so there is a real possilibility that I will hit Wednesday and have nothing to show. But I'm going to give it the old college try. Wish me luck!

CAUTION: Squinty-Eye McGee coming up...

What I Wore While Heading to My Favorite Bar One Last Time Before It Closes:

• fushia linen pencil skirt (Lord & Taylor, thrifted Goodwill) $3
• cream shell (Target) $4
• fushia geometric scarf (thrifted, Goodwill) $1
• pink strappy heels ($9.99 shoe store) $5 *
• goldtone/faux pearl necklace (thrifted, new stock Goodwill) $0.79
• goldtone chain (H&M) $2
• goldtone/faux pearl earrings (gift from grandparents) free**
• goldtone/faux pearl bow brooch (inherited from grandmother) free ***
• faux pearl clutch (inherited from grandmother) free

* I decided not to wear these shoes to work b/c they are more "going out heels" than "work heels" however the shoes I wore insead were some basic black pumps that I got free from a friend, so I did not go over the $20. in fact, I was under even more.
** My grandparents gave me these earings when I was about 13, way back in the 80s when BIG earrings were in. I thought they were horrible and boring. I never wore them. Fast forward 20 years and they are perfect for work. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!!
*** the brooch is holding my scarf together in the back. I took a pic of it, but it just blends into the print of the scarf.

What I Did Not Eat At My Favorite Bar on My Last Ever Trip:

We found out that a bar that we go to regularly is closing it's doors due to the economy. So we clearly had to go one last time. We experienced the worst service, worst food, and worst enviroment ever. Clearly everyone who works there just doesn't care any more. (I don't blame them, but it was frustrating.) I ordered fish and chips and ended up just leaving it on my plate. Rand left his shepherd's pie too. It was so bad (after waiting over an hour) that we came home and ate PBJs instead. Not a good sign.

Total for the day: $15.79, extra calories for a really bad meal at one of my two favorite bars.

Red Week Roundup

What I Wore Over the Week That Was Red:

To answer my own question from the beginning of the week, no one noticed that I wore red every day. Not even Rand who took all of these pictures. I actually felt the best on Friday with my suit on. Clearly I am a lawyer all the way down to my very core, if having a basic black suit on made me feel my best.

Do you have a favorite? Or one you think is a flop?

What I Did for Exercise While Being Thankful the Rain Stayed Away:

Rand and I went for a 3 mile hike at the Cedar Ridge Preserve. It was great. Some of it was actually quite difficult (and some was basically walking) but I huffed and puffed my way through it. I really enjoy using my body for activity so much more than exercising. I felt exhilerated (and sweaty) when we were done. We've already decided we will go again before it gets hot.

Webcams & Wrecks

Well casual Friday was a bust, which really made me sad since I had a super-cute outfit involving red suspenders ready to go. But I ended up have two appointments today that both required a suit, so the suspenders were put on hold.

At the second appointment I was asked to take a typing test, which I found hilarious. I'm an attorney, so it's not usually a required skill, but this employer had recently been burned by hiring several attorneys who were not computer saavy at all. Oh I also have to talk about myself on webcam for a few minutes. Awkward!

I stopped by Goodwill on my way home - you will be seeing lots more scarves from soon! And on my way back from Goodwill I ran into a ton of traffic. Here's why----------------------------------->


What I Wore While on Webcam:

• black suit (Lane Bryant)
• red silk ruffled shell (Max Studio)
• leopard pont hair pumps (Charles by Charles David)
• snake head garnet earrings (antique, gift)
• garnet ring (gift)
• camel colored stone multistrand necklace (Lane Bryant?)

What I Ate After Seeing a Very Scary Car Wreck:

• spinach & tomato pasta
• pesto pizza

We had our friend Maria over for dinner tonight and all three of us agreed that the pasta we made was really gross. So we gave in and ordered pizza.

Guest Blogger - Stacy IV

Please welcome photographer-extraordinaire a.k.a. Best Sister Ever a.k.a. Stacy for her final installment as a guest blogger. She gamely agreed to participate in Red Week.
_________________________

I don't normally wear a lot of red. I just don't own a lot of it, but I must look at least a little foxy in it because those high school boys at Menards were sure watching me come down the aisles. I felt pretty good about that on the inside, but of course, was trying to look like I didn't care!
I'm touching up and redecorating my home office, so I have been scouting for shelves, lamps, etc. for the past week.

Here was my best attempt to bring in some red for Tina's "Red Week". I have a quick photo tip for you girls. You'll notice this week's photo is taken from above. If you want to look a little slimmer, just have someone a little taller (or get them up on some stairs above you - like my crazy tall husband did) and take some shots from above. It is slimming and more flattering. ;)

What I Wore While Making My 4th Trip to Menards this Week:

• Red Earrings - Maurices
• Black Necklace - Bergners
• Red Henley Tank - Eddie Bauer
• Black 3/4 Sleeve Button Down - Express
• Belt - Kohls
• Black Pants - AB Studio via Kohls
• Black Ballet Flats - Clarks
• Bracelet - Kohls

I'm reusing the black belt and necklace this week. I guess I don't have a ton of accessories and this just proves the point that if you buy the right pieces, you really can mix and match.

Food Details - 29 pts

I sadly failed again to take photos of my meals. Sorry, Tina! I'll try harder next time.

I'm still counting points on WW. I just made it in and maxed out my 29 pt allowance. I use 'em all

Breakfast

• Diet Pepsi - 0 pts
• Yogurt - 2 pts

Lunch - I tried something new and really like it! Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers. Yum!

• Chicken Margherita Cafe Steamer - 6 pts
• Red delicious apple - 2 pts
• Diet Pepsi - 0 pts

Snack

• Nutrigrain Bar - 3 pts

Dinner

• (2) Turkey Burgers - 14 pts
• Pringles - 2 pts

___________

Thanks, Stacy! It's been great having you as a guest blogger for April. Since Rand is even taller than your super-tall husband, I'm going to have to have him start taking those high-angled, slimming pics.