Time Goes By

Yesterday, my dear husband decided to take me shopping for my upcoming New Year's Birthday. Since I'm so hard to shop for,  he thought I could pick out a few items of my liking. I think he's afraid to buy me clothing because I'm just too picky and my tastes change all the time.   For example, we decided to pop into Forever 21 and he found a dress that he wanted me to try on which was kind of nice, but a bit too tight and too short with a stretch material. He said I looked GREAT in the way guys mean (Men!!) but I ended up trying on a cuter, much  more versatile dress.  


Afterwards, we stopped by H&M and ended up trying the dress below.

I have a bad way of trying clothes on: I never take my pants off because I'm just too lazy.  :)

Hello World!! I'm ready for you.

I spent the whole day with my mother yesterday and I can truly say that we had a good time shopping together. She actually put lipstick on and dressed up for me (which she hasn't done since my dad passed last year). It was nice to see that because this was a woman who always dressed up and had make up on. My dad's death really was a blow to her and this past year I guess she was in total mourning.

We both ended up buying a few items from petite BR and ATL so I'm feeling a bit guilty today (even though it was a birthday treat to myself). I'll have to retry some clothes to see if I really love them. Mom bought me this beautiful fake-fir lined olive jacket from ATL as a birthday gift. Then we looked at furniture and gifts (Z Gallerie and West Elm) and saw some interesting pillows (see pic). I'm really into the Mediterranean ethnic patterns.

Unfortunately, I never made it to my favorite store: Anthropologie. Maybe I can do that this week.

Xmas is over. Bring on the New Year.

Christmas came by quickly. Santa brought me a sewing machine and and an IPhone which I love, plus a small bit of cash (for my upcoming birthday) from the in-laws which I will happen to use at Anthropologie...whenever I get there.

I've already set up the sewing machine but I realize that I don't have much thread so I must go to the fabric shop and purchase a few key items. B gave me an old T-shirt to play around with and it was fun until I ran out of thread.

I'm so excited to start sewing but I do want to do it right so I would eventually take some classes. There is a local place nearby but unfortunately their hours won't do for me (open from 9:00 - 5:00 M-F) since I'll be at work during that time. It's too bad because most of their classes were about $40 for 2 hours. If I took a class at JO-Anne's Fabric store it would cost me $149 (but then I think it's a 5 hour class). Lot's of decisions to make. By January, I'm hoping to have learned to sew a blind hem on pants, skirts and dresses, and also make outfits using patterns.

The one good thing about sewing: you don't think about food. By the time I figured out how to set up the machine, it was past lunch time. Time flies by fast. I'll need to keep myself busy this week since I don't have work. I should exercise... or sew.... Decisions, Decision. ;) 

Christmas is Here! Almost.

The holidays are near.  I haven't posted in quite a while but again I'm still figuring out what I want to focus this blog on.  So, I keep posting whatever is in my head at the time.

My Xmas party was a success.   Here's a picture of our tree.

I want to post pics of outfits but will have to wait until the New Year when I have more photos and when I get back to work.  Plus, there will be lots of sales which I'm looking forward too.

Happy Holidays!!!

New Year's Resolutions

With the upcoming New Year, I feel like I must make a list of goals that I always end up making but never accomplishing. There are so many things I want to do and yet so little time to do them in.  So, I will make reasonable New Year's resolutions and hopefully stick with them.  Okay, NOT hopefully, but WILL stick to them.

Here are the following:

1. B gets a job
2. I find something I'm passionate about and make it into a profitable career
3. Save, Save, Save - I want to look for another job eventually. I'm not having fun anymore at my current one.
4. pay off car - it's possible but we'll see
5. For once I don't have to say lose weight because I've lost my weight but still have 10 lbs to go. 
6. Maybe I'll go back to school and do something fun
7. travel more and/or visit family more
8. once I get my sewing machine, I'd like to hem all my clothes that I love
9. Not spend
10. Sell items on Ebay - I've had some luck on there

Possibly more to add to the list later.

Yes, I'm back

Black cardigan:  Old Navy

Tank top: Old Navy

Belt: Forever 21

Boots: ???

Yes, it's been a while since I've been back.  I can finally get my life back to order now that I know I still have a job. It's been a stressful few weeks but it is finally over and now can concentrate on my life, the holidays and my upcoming trip to Jamaica.  So excited to go.

Me...Again...in Paris, 1992

 Me at Jim Morrison's grave

 Me inMontmartre

 Me trying to be fashionable in black

 Smoking in Paris at Marjan's home

Me sitting next to Marjan

I have to stop begin so nostalgic and live in the present.  Oh to be young again.

Flashback to the early 90's - Part 3

Cindy and Mary, April 1990, at Earth Day Festival at the National Mall

Random guy with mohawk, Earth Day Festival, 1992

Cindy's friend Jen, Earth Day Festival, 1992

t (Indigo Girls/Stipe/MercyThese are

These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You’ll know it’s true
That you – you are blessed and lucky
It’s true – that you
are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you....
- 10,000 Maniacs                                                                       

Flashback to the 90's - Part 2 (Paris)

One of major things that I did was to cut my hair off. I had always loved short hair especially when I had seen 'Til Tuesday's Aimee Mann with her rattail look or when the movie Ghost came out, Demi Moore's short hair was the bomb.

Paris, 1992

Paris, 1992

My hair hasn't changed much, but now I can see the differences in my face and in my body and in my fashion choices. I still like my look then and now.

me today as 11/25/2010

Even back in college when all I did was wear black, which I still can don more often then not, I feel a little more constricted in dark colors and want to experiment with color and print and design. I suppose that's how I've matured.

Flashback to the 90's....Part 1 (Me back in the day)

I've been looking back a lot lately about my life, especially when I came upon my pictures as a 20-something year old.  I was 19 (with my friend Cindy), 20 and 21 respectively in the above pics and that was probably the only time when my hair was long(ish) before I got my pixie cut as it is today. More pics to come later.

Outfit of the day

top: Guess

jeans: ATL

boots: ATL

It's a casual work week and it's nice to be in jeans again.  Besides the 3 of us in the office, the building was fairly quiet with most people taking off for Thanksgiving.  I myself will be taking wednesday off just to have the day to myself.  I haven't decided what I'm going to wear for Thanksgiving, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

MODCLOTH Wishlist

What can I say? I decided to peruse the ModCloth site and lo and behold there were some of the greatest finds of the season.  Of course most of these dresses are quite a bit short for a woman my age, but I'd like to think I can wear tights or leggings of some sort.

This would make a fabulous holiday dress and I've been drawn to berry tones lately.  I want these 2 dresses:

Dress: Modcloth Cabernet Cabaret Dress

Dress; Berry Good Dress by ModCloth

Then I found some shoes that were to die for which are all on the Modcloth site so I didn't get a chance to post names:

Took the day off...

dress: Tucker for Target from Ebay

boots: ATL

YAY!!! I finally got my dress from Ebay  and let me tell you it was a hard dress to find.  At Target this dress had been sold out since the summer so I ended up going on Ebay to find this dress.  I was hoping to get a deal on it, but surprisingly everyone else had the same idea so I got it for much more than I would have paid for it at the store.  That's okay because I will definitely make use of this dress.  What lured me to the dress was the fabulous (IKAT?) print and the navy color which I used to detest so much. It does run big for size small and I'm assuming it's trying to be a flowy boho dress but  I do love it and it's quite comfortable and I supposed I can get away wearing it through the winter by layering it up a lot more, adding tights, sweaters, etc.  

It's been one of those weeks so I've decided to take a mental health day from work.  My mental health day usually consists of doing nothing or cleaning the whole house or sorting through my clothes. I  can't decide right, but I definitely want to productive. We'll see.

Ho Hum!

Scarf: H&M

Cardigan: ATL

Pants: ATL

Booties: ATL

Tank: H&M
Belt: F21

Do you ever have one of those days when you look in the full closet and have nothing to wear?  It happens to me more often than not and the problem isn't that I don't have enough clothes, it's just that I don't feel the clothes on that particular day.  I want my outfit to make me feel good and thin and confident and that's the hard part.  Today though I particularly felt good.  Maybe it's because I had the usual slimming dark pants with black booties and the fitted cardigan or maybe it's the way I photographed myself.  This was one of those times where I actually felt good and looked "skinny" on camera or maybe I'm just getting used to looking at myself.  Or maybe all the working out is paying off.

The scarf looked good too.

Another day gone!!

top:  Tucker for Target

belt:  F21 

jeans: ATL

booties: ATL

I didn't get a chance to do much but ended up seeing my mom and family today.  The Tucker for Target shirt was a size small but could probably fit someone who is a medium. It does run large.  It was the only one in the sale rack and I got the top for only $11, a bargain in my book especially because it's running for about $30+ on Ebay. By the way, I ended up buy the hard-to-find Tucker for Target navy blue dress on Ebay and probably paid a little extra for it. Unfortunately, this dress had been sold out since late summer and every dress that I bid on Ebay was gone before I got a chance to bid.  I finally got one, but at a price so I better wear it no matter how it fits.

I forgot to post more shoes from yesterday that were on the sale rack at DSW.  Still too overpriced for  sale items and plus the black sandal was not practical for this time of year.  I'll go back next week and see if I can find a great deal.  I really don't need any shoes anyway.

It's back to work tomorrow.  Not sure what to wear since we have to dress up again for the week. 

A Little Window Shopping Today

top:  Banana Republic circa early 2003

jeans: ATL

shoes: Cindy 

This is an old outfit I decided to wear out today. I love the Banana Republic top and I hope it never wears out, but unfortunately it is cotton and too much washing will wear it out.  The jeans are my staple ATL and shoes are great to walk around in.  Ah, my hair is sicking up in all the wrong part.  I need a trip badly.

Anywho, I went to the mall and decided to go into Forever 21 which is quite rare and you will have to be in the right mindset before you get too overwhelmed with clothes.  I was actually looking for cute printed tops, but ended up trying on solids.  Nothing had a WOW factor so here are a few things I tried on but didn't buy.  (My old IPHONE takes decent pictures, slightly fuzzy,  but no flash so at least I don't get those darn shadows)

Then it was off to Ann Taylor Loft to try on a few jackets.  I liked them all but realized I have too many black and gray jackets this year so I needed to stop buying them (unless I accidently find them on extra sale and extra discounts, and petite sizes).

Lastly, DSW was on my way so I decided to get my shoe thrills by trying on a quite a few unusual pairs of shoes that I couldn't afford.

 I can't remember the brand of the shoe but it was a brand I've never heard.

 Silver Seychelles shoes

 Same as above

 Don't know if I liked these but wanted to try. Can't remember brand.

These were by Tahari I think or Liz Clairborne.  Loved the fuscia color. 

Good old Steve Madden shoes.

Another pair of Seychelles at the sale rack.

I really, really liked these suede pumps by Steve Madden but I thought they were a bit too expensive even if they were on sale.

Another pair of Steve Maddens.

Shoes by Beverly Feldmen - too high and too expensive, but cute