17, 18, 20 November 2015: Snow!!! Proper Snow!

Last week was pretty much a lost week. I walked through the days foggy and exhausted, and on Wednesday, had to do that while doing two programs and a desk shift. It was rough. I just sort of grabbed clothes and hoped for the best. And then came Saturday. ❤

Her Universe Doctor Who dress, Loft cardigan, Forever 21 leggings, Tardis necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Owl socks, Clarks

We hosted a coding class for tween girls, so I wanted to dress nerdy and fun. Doctor Who seemed appropriate. Also, owls and cardi match. Yay.

Gap sweater, Old Navy sweetheart skinnies, Gap boyfriend cardi, Felicity Smoak necklace, Black Widow bracelet, Merona socks, Clarks

Totally exhausted. So so exhausted.

I had Friday off and hit the mall with a friend and her baby. It was finally chilly, and everything was decorated and it was so so lovely. I also picked up some Disney tshirts half off – Joy and Sadness from Inside Out saying It’s Complicated, and an Avengers men’s shirt that –omg– had Natasha AND Clint on it!!! Will wonders never cease? I enthused mightily to the sales lady.

And when we stepped outside of the restaurant after dinner, our first snowflakes were just starting to fall. ❤ ❤ ❤  It snowed all night and I woke up to about an inch on the grass, though the sidewalks and streets were pretty clear. It’s rare for our first snowfall to also be a proper snow, and I decided to celebrate:

Elsa tee, Forever 21 plaid skirt, H&M cardigan, Avengers charm bracelet, fleece lined tights, Clarks

I walked to work in a winter wonderland, put together a snowy day storytime, went on a lunchtime snowy walk, and then no one came to storytime. It started getting super messy around lunchtime, when we switched to lake effect snow, and the driving got scary. Sigh. But it was beautiful.

(Yes, some of our trees still have leaves, and some of them are still green. It’s been a weird weather autumn. See above bare legs.)

See how it picked up and got heavier as the day went on? I went on one last walk after work, but the snow was over and it wasn’t much fun without holiday lights to shine on the snow.

But I did get this gorgeous Bingo Baby pic from my mom:

❤

11-14 November 2015: Retro

I was on a big retro kick last week!  I think it was inspired by my new coat. I was super excited to post this last week, and then things went haywire before my trip. A week later and I finally feel like I’m on an even keel again. Today’s snow storm helped. Those pics will come soon!

Loft Sunkissed tee, Loft skirt, Loft cardigan, owl socks, Mickey necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Clarks shoes

Yes, the pink owls picked up the pink cardigan, ha. And yes, it was warm enough for bare legs several times last week.

anthropologie Elevenses coat

SWOON. I had unneccessary stress that morning, and it was finally in the upper 30s, so I went for it.

Dotted sweater, Garnet Hill jeans, Bucky Winter Soldier necklace, Hawkeye bracelet, Naturalizer heels

Love this sweater, which makes me feel like Lana Turner. New necklace, too – it’s actually magnetic and I should be able to swap in Black Widow or Hawkeye, but I can’t quite figure out how to get the magnet out, ha! So Winter Soldier it is.

Loft sweater, plaid skirt, tights, Clarks

I picked this skirt up at consignent awhile back and it’s finally cool enough to wear it! It feels super 40s and awesome to me.

We nerded out at the library again, too. We hosted a mini-Comic Con, complete with full size Tardis, with Batman, Batgirl, and some Jedis teaching classes. I love working with nerds. ❤

6, 9, 10 November 2015: Weird Weather

We keep bouncing between warm and cold. And my TimeHop keeps showing me how it’s snowed by now in the past, but alas, not here. 😦 Denver is getting snow, though, but it’ll be melted by the time I get there this weekend. Sigh.

Modcloth bodysuit, Loft zebra skirt, Loft cardigan, Winter Soldier necklace, booties

New necklace! It’s actually a magnet and the Winter Soldier can swap out to Hawkeye or Widow, but, um, I can’t get it to pop out. Oops. It’s okay, I like Bucky.

Gap sweater, Old Navy Sweetheart Skinnies

So, you hear about the 93″ Costco teddy bear? Yep. We bought one for the department. It’s SO SOFT!! And snuggly!!! The kids love it, and frankly, so do the adults!

 

Coldwater Creek sweater, Old Navy Sweetheart Skinnies, Converse

Monday was a very very very long day. It showed.

 

Gap sweater, Garnet Hill jeans, Winter Soldier necklace, charm bracelets, Bass saddle shoes

New jeans! Picked them up at the last clothing swap. They are lower rise than I prefer, but I think they look okay? The straight leg appeals to me.

And huzzah, I have had my first Gingerbread Latte and it was Good.

2-4 November 2015: Warm Spell

Warm. It’s bloody warm. Like, 70s. Bare legs. Bare trees. It’s kind of great, but at the same time, I want to get a gingerbread latte in a red cup to warm up, and I’m already too warm for it, ha.

H&M dress with belt, Agent Carter necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Clarks

I do love this dress and don’t wear it enough. That’s a theme with me. It’s swishy and cute and fun to wear. It’s perfect for fall days that don’t require cardigans.

Anthropologie space-dyed cowl sweater, Old Navy Flirt capris, H&M Love necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Clarks

Cute and casual for outreach storytime and walking.

Gap top, Anthropologie jumper, zulily brooch, Avengers charm bracelet, Clarks

I love these shoes, but they probably need a break. I love this dress, but so rarely wear it! I think because the fabric is so thick, it turns me off, but it looks fine. And it’s hard to style — bit 1960s nun-to-be/schoolgirl. Or early days Peggy Olson.  Essentially the same thing, ha. But I saw Clara wearing a jumper with longsleeve shirt on Doctor Who a few weeks ago and have wanted to emulate it ever since. So here it is.

There is an awesome biography series for kids, Ordinary People Change the World. I just read the Helen Keller title, and was utterly delighted to find my absolute favorite superheroes, Clint Barton and Kate Bishop (each codenamed Hawkeye) and their dog Lucky, along with Matt Murdock (Daredevil) and his bff Foggy, hanging out at the end! And Clint is signing to Kate that he loves her! SWOON. They got included because Clint is deaf and Matt is blind, and the illustrator used to work for Marvel. Awesome touch to a seriously awesome book on Helen. I highly recommend it for the kids in your life. (K-3, probably.)

 

Happy Halloween!

A day late, oops. I tried.

We usually dress up on Halloween for work, but since it was Saturday, we kept it super low key on Friday.

Though to be honest, this is exactly what I would have worn should it have fallen on Friday, so.

Captain America costume hoodie, Old Navy sweetheart skinnies, Keds

And yes. The hood is actually his cowl, complete with A and wings and covering my nose. No, there is no photographic evidence of it. But see the straps on my shoulders? Oh, yes, nerds.

I own a shield backpack, too. Of course. And what other day could I possibly pair these? It was a very comfy day at work, let me tell you.

Eddie Bauer sweater, Old Navy Flirt skirt, Forever 21 leggings, lace socks, Halloween pin, Felicity Smoak’s necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Clarks

And for actual Halloween, I wore this! I thought about doing a cute cosplay, but I needed something easy to get in and out of for trying on clothes and something somewhat dressed up for the theater. So this it was. The socks/shoes/leggings gave it more of an 80s vibe than I’d thought on, but whatever, it was fine.

My hair is finally long enough not only to get pinned up, but to go into a bun! Does this mean Heidi braids are soon behind???

Little ghosties and bats.

A full dressing room post will be posted soon – anthro and I are friends again after a very long separation. (My bank account is mad at both of us.)

But! THE THEATER.

Okay, so. You all know I’m crazy about Christmas. I try to keep to boundaries – I admit that I have listened to some Christmas songs in the past few weeks, but that was largely to deal with stress. I needed the hit of relaxation and calm. And then Goldstar, the theater-based Groupon company, posted discounted tickets for White Christmas at a local theater. And I had credit from them, so my ticket would be free.

So I saw White Christmas on Halloween.

Look at that! SNOW! Also, fifth row center — not bad for discounted, let alone free! I’d say the theater was about half filled with fellow Christmas nerds. And yes, we enthusiastically sang White Christmas when prompted. The stage musical changes the plot and makes it make WAY more sense, and throws in another half dozen or so Irving Berlin songs. I like the movie best, because it’s ingrained in me, but I really do love the staging. The actors were all delights, and holy crap, could they sing. I also wanted 90% of the costumes, omg. Like, to the point where I’m half considering emailing the costume director and asking if they were sewn or sourced and where, ha. I stared more at the costumes than I did the actors sometimes!!

So, yeah. NO REGRETS.

Ahhhhhhh-ctober 2015

Ugh, you guys. Yesterday was my day off, and I wore all my Hawkeye stuff because this panel from his comic kept running through my head:

Maybe not EVERYTHING is awful. But it’s been a ridic stressful two weeks. Last week, I ended up with jury duty on the one day I’d have been at work, and I was there until 6:30, a hairbreadth away from being questioned for a panel. (The gasps of horror from the pool when the first group questioned had 17/28 dismissed at once was pretty loud and staggering.) Luckily they found their last 3 panelists in the second group, and I was one of 8 in the last group, just waiting and waiting and waiting.

Then I was gone for four days for a library conference, which had some awesome moments. Some great panels, great seeing old coworkers again, saw The Martian in 3D giant screen and fell even more in love etc. But it was exhausting, and we came back late Saturday night and then Sunday I was in a fog of fatigue. And then this happened:

My graphics card died and I got multiple blue screens and was unable to boot up. So I was desktopless Sunday-Wednesday, plus all the time I was away. It hurt so bad, ha. I save and organize and tag things obsessively, and it was very very hard to do even half of it on my iPad. Then I was juts foggy and tired at work – so grateful for Wednesday off, when I started to feel human again. Almost there.

Meanwhile, some clothes.

Gap top, Forever 21 skirt, Mickey necklace, Keds

Honestly, I can’t believe it was warm enough recently to go bare-legged. I do not remember those days. Today we’re not even getting out of the 40s, and it feels like the 30s.

I haven’t worn this skirt since last fall Disney, I think?? Isn’t that odd? But it didn’t come out looking quite what I had in mind in those pics, but I think it was just the top with them. This looks fine.

Coldwater Creek shirt dress, H&M cardigan, Agent Carter necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Clark’s shoes

I presented at the conference, and went 40s to do it. Also chosen because I wore this for the 4 hour drive home, and it’s so damn comfortable. Also, western IL was oddly much warmer than eastern. Go figure.

Maurice’s top, Old Navy Sweetheart Skinny jeans, anthropologie cardigan, Mickey necklace, Clarks

Worn because I desperately needed color and pep and cheer. Also, my hair is now long enough to pin it up in the back, yay!

Anthropologie Flutter Hem top, Old Navy sweetheart skinny jeans, Agent Carter necklace Clarks

I am 90% sure I wore this before the conference. When would that have been? Maybe two Sundays back. Maybe the Friday before that. Augh.

Anthropologie Emporer’s Kiss sweater, Old Navy Sweetheart skinnies, Target socks, Clarks

Penguins! Because it’s cold! My socks were $2 at Target, but they look handknit, and I like that a lot.

And, hey, look what we got now:

Autumn colors! Bare trees! I finally saw orange trees on our drive to the conference, and that was exciting. Ooooh, and we listened to Hamilton the musical on the way there. I cannot get over how amazingly good it is!!! I fell for it hard. I hope it tours soon!!!!

8, 10, 12 October 2015: Fandom Fun

Slowly catching up. I was home sick a few times last week and it’s throwing me off. Boo allergies.

Coldwater Creek shirtdress, Avengers charm bracelet, Clark’s shoes

I love this dress. I love it so much, I also own it in black. And I so rarely wear either. Why? I love full skirts that end at my knee, and it’s not my default. I really wish it was.

Gap sweater, Limited cardigan, Old Navy sweetheart skinnies, Hawkeye bracelet, Felicity Smoak replica necklace, Converse

A Saturday at work with two action-y storytimes means comfortable clothes! And a color scheme, apparently. This was mostly because of the necklace – I got it in FanMail, a monthly geeky lady subscription box, and wanted to wear it asap. So it turned very purple. Close up on the necklace:

A little brassy, but I like it.

On my Friday off, I went to see The Martian. I loved it so much! Like, more than I thought I would, even. It was funny and nerve-wracking and heartbreaking and sweet, all in turns. I can’t wait to read the book – based on the somewhat surprise ending of the credits, at least one subplot got pretty well nixed, and I’m really curious to see what else went. I like Sebastian Stan, who had a fairly small role in this, so that was a bonus, too.

Sunday, I did my third 5K of the year, for the WDW Running Team’s Tomorrowland Virtual Race. My time wasn’t great, went up 2 minutes, but the length didn’t feel overwhelming for the first time, so there’s that. It’s been a bad week or so to run with allergies and cold impacting asthma, so I’m pretty okay with the turn out. The weather was at least gorgeous, 78 and sunny, so it was just allergy issues.

 

 

Only one more 5K for 2015, for Veterans Day. Depending on weather, that might just be totally walked, we’ll see.

(PS, clearly NOT my usual pace, I try to pick it up for the last .1 mile, ha.)

5-7 October 2015: All About the Nails

So I finally updated to ios9 and it’s mostly great except iCloud did weird things and took away my PhotoStream that I rely on to post, and I had to fight to get it back. But I did! Yay!

Gap sweater, Old Navy sweetheart skinnies, Arrow necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, booties

I am blanking on the shoe brand. I love them madly still, but I fear they are not long for the world. The bottoms feel very thin, and my feet hurt when I take them off. Ugh. Gotta figure out how to save them, outside of not taking long walks on days I wear them!

Gap top, Old Navy sweetheart skinnies, JCrew Jackie cardigan, Mickey necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Clark’s shoes

Black is a trend, mostly because I was trying not to compete with the nails – my mom and I went for manicures the weekend before, and they seemed to call for dark and dramatic tops. Very Black Widow.

 

Anne of Green Gables top, H&M cardigan, Old Navy Sweetheart skinnies, Tardis bracelet, BoC Canty booties

So of course this top is what I chose to wear the next day. It is, indeed, the full text of Anne of Green Gables, stretching front and back. It’s delightful.

Here’s my manicure, sadly on day 5 after there had been some chipping. It was Under the Mistletoe, and easily swayed between autumnal and Merry Tidings, depending on light. Sometimes it looked dark purple, other times blood red. It really was awesome.

25, 28-30 September and October 1, 2015: Wear Your Superheroes

I am so bloody glad September is over. I need cold weather. It soothes me.

Going out of order today to start with today’s outfit. Last year, two little girls (then 5 and 7) started Wear Your Superheroes Day because the youngest had been teased about being a girl who likes superheroes. Their parents brought it to social media, it became a thing across the world, and it is definitely a thing I support. So:

Junk Food Captain America tee, Ruche plaid skirt, H&M cardigan, Old Navy tights, Avengers charm bracelet, Clarks

I love how the colors in the top and skirt go together! And I love how these shoes look with tights. Swoon.

And really, I wear my superheroes most days. Witness the past week, where I hit every single day:

 

 

Anthropologie Flutter Hem tee, Old Navy Flirt capris, Agent Carter necklace, Hawkeye bracelet, Clarks

A long day with a goodbye party means cute and casual.

JCrew Factory striped dress, Forever 21 leggings, Loft tie cardigan, Mickey necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Clarks

Man, I wear these shoes a lot. They are SO COMFY.

Anthropologie top, Old Navy sweetheart skinnies, BP cardigan, Captain America shield necklace, White Cliff flats

It was so chilly! So chilly! I wore a fleece when I went out jogging and barely got warm. It was lovely. I love chilly weather. I am so glad it’s back. Swoon. Just check this awesome tree:

Swoon. I love red leaves. We usually just get yellow.

I do need to figure out something reflective to wear jogging at night – I try to get home by 7, but that’s still pretty dim these days. Craziness.

Check the Captain America-y placemat I made my brother.

I love jelly rolls. I never want to use anything else, ha. I should have had another stripe, though; I forgot to account for the inch lost with the sewing. Oops.

19, 21-24 September 2015: Augh, Late

Augh! How has it been two weeks? Last week was super weird, as it was my very dear friend/assistant manager’s last week before moving several hours away, so I was pretty distracted. I hope to get better at keeping current soon.

Dumbledore’s Army tee, Old Navy Flirt capris, Tardis necklace, Tardis bracelet, Converse

September 19th: Hermione Granger’s birthday and the premiere of Doctor Who! It was also Talk Like a Pirate Day, my one chance to wear the pirate tee I got from a TeeFury grab bag, but since I went in to work to help at Hermione’s birthday, I clearly needed to be part of the DA. The party was marvelous, filled with nerdy adults and kids. I helped everyone make pins and finger knit scarves for the House Elves.

And the Doctor Who premiere was solid. I adore Twelve, and his electric guitar riff of Pretty Woman made my night. I ❤ you, Peter Capaldi. Never leave.

Anthropologie cardigan, Old Navy Sweetheart Skinnies, arrow necklace, Avengers charm bracelet, Aerosole sandals

It finally cooled down enough to wear my new cardi!!!! Only it didn’t really and I was warm. Oops, jumped the gun. But I do love it very much. So rare to find a fitted cardi that buttons over my chest!

Also, I am so relieved these jeans fit again. They are on the small side of a 4, unlike my capris and my last pair of these, which is very frustrating. I would like to get a better, truer sized pair, but I am also saving money for NYC, so, ugh. But unlike this spring, they fit comfortably again, alleluia. I had been more than a little nervous about cooler weather returning. We’ll see how it goes this winter when I can’t be out jogging anymore.

anthropologie sailor knot dress, H&M cardigan, Avengers charm bracelet, flipflops

These were not the shoes I wore most of the day – I had on my Aerosole wedges seen above, but the STRAPS BROKE OFF THE SIDE. My coworker leant me these to walk home and I dropped my sandals off at the cobbler. They are now fixed, yay!!!

I love the idea of this dress, my very first anthro item, but it’s hard. The top is too big and it’s racerback-y, so I can only really wear it covered up. I love how this came out, though, so I am torn on keeping it or not. Because it can work, clearly, and I love the tie so hard. But it’s just not easy to wear/style.

Anthropologie Novelty Collar tee, Old Navy Flirt capris, H&M cardigan, Avengers charm bracelet, Clarks

Keeping with the anthr theme, basically. And God, I love these shoes.

Gap tank, Old Navy Flirt capris, ANA tie cardigan, Mickey necklace, Hawkeye bracelet, Converse

Aforementioned friend/AM’s going away party for staff was a Just Dance party with candy and Mountain Dew slushies. Clearly, I had to dress to dance. It was a ton of fun. Sniffle. Sigh.

As a going away gift, I sewed together a disappearing nine patch coaster for her new office. And, clearly did not upload the finished product? Hmm, odd. I’ll fix that later. It came out uneven, but cute. And now I know that disappearing ninepatchs really need at least three different fabrics, not two. (It was just a regular nine patch, alternating the dark and light oranges in a checkerboard, which I cut into quarters and turned around to make a more complicated looking pattern.)

I’ve definitely been bitten by the quilting bug again. I bought some fabric for Christmas gifts and sewed my brother a reversible patriotic/flag placemat. Hurrah for cool weather projects!