if i were going out tonight...

...this is what I'd wear:

---

Shop: Tamarind Sequin Pant, Calypso St. Barth; Cashmere V-neck Sweater, J.Crew; Black Tuxedo Blazer, LC Lauren Conrad at Kohl's; Drift Earrings by Lulu Frost, Charm and Chain; Lucas Ring, Dannijo; Woven Cresent Bag, The Limited; Calcagni Wedges, Aldo

(But I'm just chilling at home with D, the puppies, a glass of wine, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.)

Happy 2012, everyone!

outfitted:: fuzzy wuzzy

---

Shop::
Top: Target (old); Faux Fur Vest: Piperlime, no longer available (similar); Jeans: American Eagle; Necklace: Piperlime, no longer available; Boots: LC by Lauren Conrad Tall Platform Boot, Kohl's; Bracelets: J.Crew, JewelMint

outfitted:: gold sparkles

I bought these ridiculous gold sparkly booties on a whim a few weeks ago and I've been trying to figure out ways to incorporate them into my wardrobe. Obviously, I'm not going to wear them into the office, but they work well with ripped up jeans and a t-shirt or this little ivory tunic dress for a night out on the town.

---

Shop: Dress: H&M (last year); Cardigan: J. Crew Factory; Booties: Charlotte Russe Glittery Lace-up Platform Booties; Necklace: vintage upcycled from local store, Building Character

outfitted:: peachy

Saturday night D and I went to see Gaslight at The Fulton Theatre. It's part of our holiday tradition to get all dressed up, go out to dinner, and see a show at the Fulton. Usually we see whatever musical is playing in December, but I was intrigued by the "psychological thrilled" description of Gaslight, even though I didn't really know much about it, so we went a month earlier than usual. And it definitely didn't disappoint! I'd recommend it, but it closed tonight. But if you're in the Lancaster area, you can check out Hairspray at the Fulton starting November 30 through December 31. If past musicals staged there are an indication of the future, I'd say Hairspray will be fantastic!

So anyway, I had originally planned on wearing something a little more "holiday" (read: sparkling, sequins, gold, etc), but I'm not quite in holiday mode yet, so I pulled this frothy little number out of my closet instead. And while we're talking about dresses and theatre, why do people not dress up anymore for such an occasion? Sure, some people were dressed up, but for every person who donned their sparkling theatre best, there were about 10 more rolling in looking like they were hitting up a local dive bar. And this is a really nice, formal theatre. Do not get. Am I alone in this?

---

Shop:
Dress: Random boutique last year; Blazer: LC by Lauren Conrad (no longer on website, check stores, similar, similar in grey); Booties: Bakers Chelsee; Earrings: JewelMint Versailles (no longer available)

outfitted:: one more halloween post

Before we launch full-force into Thankschristmahanukkwanzasolsticenewyears, I figured I'd suck the last life out of fall and post the Halloween costume I wore this past weekend when I braved the snow to head to a party. I definitely don't get creativity points here since it was a pre-packaged costume (minus the shoes, hair ribbon, and jewelry), but I did get compliments on its coolness and cuteness most of the night. There's definitely a lot of love out there for 80s nostalgia.

So here I am as sparkly, shiny Rainbow Brite. (Excuse the weird pointing-and-laughing pose. There weren't very many full-length shots taken. And this was the best of the bunch, so yeah..)



And here's a picture of a snow-capped pumpkin. You don't see that every day, right?


Let the holiday craziness begin!

happy halloween!

I mentioned before that late summer into early fall is one my favorite times of the year. Weather-wise that's true, but to be perfectly honest the entire stretch of months from August through December gets me pretty stoked. It starts in August with my and Mr. DU's birthdays and just keeps rolling along into Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas (and Festivus!), and finally, New Year's. And now an anniversary thrown in there, too- Mr. DU and I celebrate one year of marriage this December.

But this year since we aren't getting ready to move or to walk down the aisle, I had more time to plan for Halloween. So I transformed our our kitchen into "Sleepy Hollow Tavern" (sign from the Homespun Raven), stocked up on Oktoberfest beer and pumpkin ale, and threw our first annual Halloweenfest costume party.

And I admit, I recycled my costume (I didn't have that much extra time to get super creative!). I wore this same dress for the same costume idea nine Halloweens ago. In case you can't tell by the stiff arms and awkward stance, I'm supposed to be Barbie. And Mr. DU? Well, he's got a bad hangover.

outfitted:: white and breezy

This gorgeous dress has been hanging in my closet for two summers now and this is the first time I've worn it. Not because I don't love it, but because I often find it not-quite-appropriate for whatever event I may have considered wearing.

But last Saturday was Mr. DU's birthday and we had reservations at Checkers downtown, and I figured that was as good as an occasion as any to rip off the tags. And so, I did.




{What I'm Wearing}:: Dress, Banana Republic; Espadrilles, Seychelles (circa, 2008); Jewelry, Sun Sugar Studio

PS - Sorry for going MIA last week. I've been a little busy with work and I was also enjoying my last week before the new semester starts. I can't promise I'll be posting every day, but I will try to get at least a few posts a week. I did buy a new laptop, which I'm hoping will help motivate me. I'd much rather veg out on my couch with a laptop in the evening rather than sitting at my desk at home for another few hours after sitting at a desk at work all day.

outfitted:: casual saturday

Quick outfit post today. And for once, it's actually what I'm wearing today (at least for the morning/afternoon). Today is Mr. DU's birthday and we're heading to one of our favorite restaurants tonight where ratty, cutoff jean shorts are not appropriate attire.

But this morning, we just grabbed a quick breakfast at a local cafe, so really all I needed to be was semi-presentable. I think I succeeded, no?

Happy weekend!


{What I'm Wearing}:: denim shorts, Forever21 from last year, I think; t-shirt: j.crew outlet; hoodie, alternative apparel (bought from local shop tellus360); shoes and bracelet, target; sunglasses, lc lauren conrad

outfitted:: red, olive, and butterflies

 I got beat up at the beach last week. No, not in a bar fight or anything that could have resulted in jail time. No, no. I got beat up by the ocean. Specifically, by a really big wave. And while I was crouching under the water trying to pull up my swimsuit bottoms, which I nearly lost in my fight with said wave, another wave pummeled me and tried to steal my swimsuit top.  It's a good thing my embarrassment threshold is fairly high, otherwise I may have run right off the beach crying in humiliation. After I pulled up my bottoms and re-situated my top, of course.   {Shop}:: red cropped jeans, lc by lauren conrad at kohl's; top: o'neill from a surf shop at the beach; cardigan: j.crew outlet; shoes: dolce vita for target; necklace: j.crew outlet; bracelets: madewell and j.crew outlet  PS- I'm participating in the Color Brigade with this outfit. Color Brigade is hosted by Kileen of Cute and Little. Visit her blog to check out the other entries.  PPS- Excuse my slowness on the uptake with getting back into the blogging groove. My sunbleached brain is still halfway in vacation mode and I have to use the precious non-vacation brain moments at the day job.

outfitted:: cropped, slouchy, and time to celebrate

As you read this, I am en route to the beach (or quite possibly, on the beach). Today is my birthday and I'm a firm believer that birthdays should be celebrated at the beach. With a mojito in one hand and a mojito in the other. Oh. Whatever, I like mojitos. And they are perfect for celebrating things like final project for grad school class completed, second week at new job survived, and of course, a shiny new year. And as you probably guessed, I didn't wear this outfit today. I'm probably wearing something more like this. But I did wear this little getup to work earlier this week, and I have to say, I was pretty thrilled that that leopard print belt, which used to barely fit my waist when I belted a cardigan now sits quite comfortably on my hip bones. Finally, all of this working out is paying off! It's a good thing, too, because my little beach trip also requires wearing a swimsuit.

---

{Shop}:: cropped pants: the limited, super old; top: thrifted; shoes: loft, super old; necklace: forever21, super old; bracelets: j.crew, last season, sun sugar studio

outfitted:: purple ruffles and cargos (and the blond debut)

So, here it is everyone. The blond debut. And it's straight, too, thanks to my awesome stylist, Jenn at Trim Salon, who battled with my hair for a good 30 (maybe more??) minutes, armed only with a brush and a blowdryer. Sadly, while I do have similar weapons, I do not have the patience or the skills to straighten my hair like Jenn does, so my wild and wavy hair has been back to doing its wild and wavy thing for the past several days now. And I'm left with only these pictures as a reminder of the short-lived but happy times my straight hair and I had together.

---

{Shop}:: top, lc by lauren conrad, kohl's (purple not available online- check the brick and mortar store); cargos, american eagle (older than dirt); earrings: old and not a clue where I got them; bracelet: sun sugar studio; sandals: madewell silverlake sandal

outfitted:: peach and red

I wore this outfit last week to go fill out all of the paperwork for my new job. Said paperwork also required a drug test. Every time I have to take a drug test, or even hear the words drug test, the following incident I recently witnessed at a nearby pharmacy will forever come to mind:

Irate customer storms up to pharmacist.
Pharmacist: "Can I help you, sir?"
Customer, waves a paper wildly in pharmacist's face, points to it, and says: "I want to know why THIS [prescription] drug didn't show up on my drug test, but COCAINE DID!"
Pharmacist:  (Blink. Blink.)

Clearly (and shockingly), this customer has never had to take a drug test before.

Also, this is the last post where you'll see my non-blond hair (well, my non-light blond hair, since I guess this is still sort of dark blond).

---

Shop:: top, loft (last season); skinny red jeans, lc by lauren conrad at kohl's; earrings: sun sugar studio; bracelet: j. crew; shoes: aerosoles (several seasons ago)

outfitted:: grey and white stripes

I think I'm quickly moving into "obsessed" territory with grey stripes as of late. I keep buying them and the items I have in my closet with grey and white stripes are in heavy rotation. I just picked up this dress and I think it's already earned a place as a closet front runner, sort of like this top and this top (both posted over on the DU Facebook page).

I never really used to like stripes of any color. At all. But for some reason, I'm loving them now. Maybe there's just change in the air. And who knows? Maybe I'll suddenly fall head over heels for polka dots soon, too.

PS- Just in case you're wondering, this was yesterday pre-blond hair adventure. Trust me. It's blond now.

---

{Shop}:: dress: lc by lauren conrad, kohl's; sandals, target; jewelry: american eagle and sun sugar studio

outfitted:: blue flowers and boots

Looky, looky, two outfitted posts two days in a row. I'm on a role, you guys. Don't get used to it, though. I'm not that excited about getting out of my tank tops and knit shorts most days.

Full disclosure: I did not wear this outfit today. I wore it back in June when we were in LA. I didn't get an iPhone picture of it for the DU Facebook page, so here it is, making its debut on my blog. If I wore this in PA in June (or really any time between May and October), I probably would have melted into a sweat puddle because it's too hot and humid for more than one layer and anything other than the strappiest of strappy sandals or flip flops. We've discussed this before. And before that.

So anyway, did you ever notice that when you're a blogger, you scrutinize every moment of your life to see if it's proper fodder for your next blog post? No? Only me? Seriously own up to it, fellow bloggers, because you know it's true. Unfortunately for me (and you, readers), today I've got nothing. Except it's Friday! Go have a good weekend, everyone!

---

{Shop}:: dress, madewell (summer 2010); denim jacket: old navy, circa 2000; boots, dolce vita (several seasons ago); earrings: sun sugar studio; bracelets: j.crew and sun sugar studio; scarf: h&m

outfitted:: ruffles and gladiators

I went to officially/legally change my name this morning. (Yes, it has been seven months since we got married and I'm just now getting around to changing my name- so?) So anyway, after visiting the Social Security office, I decided to go to the pet store to pick up some toys and other random dog necessities.

The route from point A to point B is fairly direct via the highway. That is, if you manage to take the right exits. Guess who did not take the right exits? Guess who also missed not only the first exit, but also the second and third ones? Yep. This girl. And I ended up on a 10 minute detour because of it. Never mind that I drive this highway all the time. From this, only one logical conclusion can be drawn: changing my name also made me a space cadet.

---

{Shop}:: dress, madewell (similar); sandals, can't remember (similar); necklace: sun sugar studio; bracelets: AE and It's Me Mary (lots of options here)

outfitted:: everybody everywear- yellow

In case you haven't heard of Everybody Everywear, it's a monthly fashion blogger challenge and each month participants vote for a theme and then wear it on the designated day. July's theme? Yellow!

I don't really have much yellow in my closet. In fact, all of the yellow I have in my closet, you've already seen here and here, and now in this post. It's not that I don't like yellow. It's that yellow doesn't really like me. It's a pretty one-sided relationship and yellow is holding all the cards. Unless I'm really tan, which rarely happens since I'm not out catching rays all that often, yellow sucks the color right out of me and suddenly, I'm Casper's even paler twin. Not pretty, people. And so, I wear yellow in small doses as an accent or far, far away from my face.

Anyone else feel this way about yellow?

Click this button to see the rest of the Everybody Everywear yellow wearers:

---

{Shop}:: dress: h&M; vest: target; shoes: target; necklace: madewell; bracelets: charlotte russe, j.crew, sun sugar studio
All items are from seasons long passed. Shopping bans have a way of forcing one to wear what's already in their closet, so nothing new or current to share with you. Fingers crossed this shopping ban will be over soon. Because I really, really want some of those Madewell dresses.

outfitted:: mustard, pink, and bronze

I've been meaning to participate in Kileen's (of Cute and Little) Color Brigade challenge for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. I've also been meaning to take the tags off of this skirt and find things to wear with it. Consider both goals complete.

I've actually had this skirt for a few years (I picked it up on clearance), but I've never actually worn it. This is definitely not typical of me to purchase things and leave them hanging in my closet with the tags on; usually, I'm ripping off the tags and wearing my fresh purchases out the very same day. But something about this skirt stumped me. I love the color and I love lace, but it just isn't super practical for my lifestyle. I couldn't wear it to work and I just never bothered to wear it out.

For the Color Brigade challenge, I thought pairing it with an unexpected color like pink would be fun (plus some sparkly bronze shoes and a touch of aqua in my earrings). And now I'm on a mission to find other ways to wear it (be on the lookout for a blog post about that).

In the meantime, hope on over to Kileen's blog and check out the other members of Color Brigade Vol. 25. Also, feel free to "like" my outfit on her blog- the Color Brigade participant who gets the most votes gets featured next week on Kileen's blog.

---

{Shop}::
top: old/no tags; skirt: rodarte for target collection (on ebay); shoes: old (similar- thinking of buying these for myself since mine are starting to wear out!); bracelets: j. crew, charlotte russe, h&m; earrings: sun sugar studio, my jewelry line (these are one-of-a-kind but contact me for something similar!)

Shirt previously worn here.

outfitted:: rosettes and cargos (and some beagles)

I know I've been light on the outfit posts recently, but do you all really want to see my t-shirts and ratty old cargo shorts that I wear most days around my house? Didn't think so.

Yesterday, I managed to dress up a little (sort of kind of) to head out to Home Depot for some paint. Mr. DU and I are in "designed to rent" mode for our house (can't say much more than that at this point, but I'll keep you posted!). But what it means for the house is that my decorating plans of wallpapering and updating living room/dining room with new furniture are on hold right now. I'm working with what we have, and I'll try to post my new inspiration board later this week.

And since we haven't had a Beagle Mania Monday in a while, here's a picture of Lucy and Meadow trying to get in on the outfitted photography action (and me with a ridiculous look on my face).

---

{Shop}::
top: urban outfitters (from 2008), similar; cardigan: abercrombie & fitch (really old, similar; cargo capris: amercian eagle (really old- maybe 2004?), similar; sandals: antik batik via anthropologie (2009); bracelet: madewell; headband: charlotte russe; necklace: american eagle

outfitted:: chambray and eyelet

I realize the last outfit I posted also included this denim shirt. I'm okay with that if you are. Besides, this is a nice little remixed look, no? One item, two ways. And actually, I wore this one first but am just now getting around to posting it. This little getup was for happy hour with the girls. There's nothing quite like happy with the girls to soothe what's ailing you, right?

Here's a random story for you. As previously mentioned, I got laid off from my job a few weeks ago. And as you also know, I love Ghost Whisperer and have been known to watch reruns on a regular basis. I promise these two things are related. At least in my story.

So anyway, I've been applying for jobs where I can find them (all five of them) and working on updating my portfolio and all that other job searching stuff. But since I've had very little response (and by "very little" I actually mean "zero"), it's been a little discouraging. I feel like I should be doing more. I was discussing this with Mr. DU while an episode of Ghost Whisperer played in the background.

Our conversation went something like this:
Me: "I've been applying for jobs and doing what I can to network and get myself out there, but I just wish I could do more."
Mr. DU: "You can only do what you can do."

At that exact moment, the conversation between Melinda and Jim on the television went something like this:
Melinda: "....I just wish I could do more."
Jim: "You can only do what you can do."

For real. True story. Mr. DU and I just looked at each other and he said, "Well, that was creepy." Creepy indeed. But I suppose Mr. DU (and Jim) had a point. I can only do so much and as long as I keep trying, there's nothing to feel bad about, right?

---

{Shop}::
shirt: similar; skirt: similar; shoes: madewell silverlake sandal (in brown or black); necklace: contact me if you're interested in a similar design

outfitted:: raindrops on roses

I'm not generally one to use my blog as a whine (yes, whine) and cheese sounding board, but seriously, the past week has not been good and I don't have much good to say at the moment. So, allow me to vent. In the past week:

1. I got laid off from my job (just a few months after buying a house- nice, right?). It wasn't the perfect job (is there such a thing?), but it paid the bills and I was building my portfolio. Not to mention, the job market here is horrendous and the last time I tried to find a job outside of this zip code, I got zero responses because, you know, it's bad out there in general and why would they hire someone from 3000 miles away when they can hire someone from next door?
2. My iPhone freaked out, froze up, and crapped out, forcing me to wipe it out and reload it with the most recent backup (which was from February - my bad, I know). I lost tons of pictures and a ton of songs and television shows that I had purchased on my phone and hadn't backed up yet (again, my bad, but still annoying).
3. Said house from point number one? Sprung a leak during yesterday's torrential downpour and our basement had nearly a foot of water in it.
4. Said flooding? Ruined our hot water heater. No shower for me today (I guess it's good I didn't have to haul it into an office. It's the little things.)
5. It's still pouring today and I absolutely had to go out it in. As in walking around town in it, not driving around in the dryness of my car. Tuesday is market day (which we live a few blocks away from) and we are completely out of food, so yeah...
6. Blogger freaked out and messed up my blog. Posts went missing, comments were lost, the custom url went down. And that resulted in a loss of functionality for Friend Connect, subscriptions, and apparently the like and send buttons over there in the side bar. So if you liked my blog before, you've got to relike it because it's been reset. Let the good times roll.
   

And so it is. Raindrops on Roses. Because it's been that kind of week (month? year???). Also, doesn't my hair look awesome? Don't be jealous. And those shorts? They're older than dirt. Seriously. I've had them since my freshman year of college. Older. Than. Dirt. They also have paint stains on them and they fall down because I've now lost 20 pounds since January (and apparently, 20 pounds since my freshman year of college, but whatever).

So anyway, I'm off to send some resumes. Thanks for listening. /rant