Hey Now!

Oops..its seems as though I have let the good lighting hours get away from me today. Here's a couple of hasty snaps so you can get an idea of my outfit. Yep, same tights as yesterday. What's that you ask? Have I washed them? Um, no comment. Also, I didn't wear them the WHOLE day yesterday. Only most of it.

I saw a craigslist posting that a local store downtown was hiring, so I decided to bring my resume down. In the ad, it asked specifically for those interested to put on a nice shirt and bring their favorite joke. I consider myself to be witty and sarcastic, but I don't do jokes very well. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and wear a nice shirt with a joke on it. If this shirt gets me the job, I'm pretty sure I'll be really happy working there. 

Since I don't have much photo-wise today, I thought I would satisfy some of your insatiable interest about my life (j/k, I know you're all ambivalent at best) and show you my version of a workspace. Presenting, me on my couch with a bunch of junk on my coffee table.

At least fifty percent of my blogging is done from bed. In that case, all this stuff would be on my nightstand

And, as another bonus, check out this screenshot I took from an episode of The Larry Sanders Show:

I know the quality's not very good, but I had to point out how very modern this character's 1992 outfit looked to me. The shirt is actually stretch lace, a trend I've seen all over the place the past few months. Then there's the flowy, ballerina-inspired tiered skirt, a belt fastened high on the waist, and lace-up boots with slightly pointed toes...and socks! I could have gotten some better stills of the outfit closer up, but I just had to get the boots in because they look straight out of this season's Urban Outfitters. Also, Janeane Garofalo was wearing a very blog-ready outfit of a red and black plaid dress, footless black tights and pointed-toe brogues, but I simply could not capture a still that was decent.

Sometimes it just kills me how the cyclical nature of fashion can make me long so much for clothes I once cringed over.

American Rag cardigan, Value Village t-shirt, Macy's skirt, JC Penny tights, vintage boots from Labels consignment

Because we separate like ripples on a blank shore

The only stuff I've accomplished so far today is paying rent and eating soup. Actually, I went down to the office of the property management company that owns my building to make sure I didn't have a late fee (rent was due on the first. Oopsies!) and the receptionist was in a chatty mood. No late fee, today was the last day of the grace period, but we talked for almost fifteen minutes about divorce and fidelity and marriage. 

I was feeling pretty uninspired this morning when I got dressed. More accurately, I was feeling uninspired this afternoon when I got dressed after sitting around in my bathrobe for a couple of hours, so I pulled out this dress, which I love and wear once a month or so. I try to switch it up each time, so I stayed neutral with the colors and put on a few more accessories than normal. I always feel that this dress is such a fun mix of contradictions, with its classic, retro shape, feminine roses, and whimsical little airplanes. I actually thought they were birds when I bought it, and was delighted to discover my mistake when I brought it home.

It was raining out today, so I opted for a stairway photo shoot. Not quite as good as the outside pictures, I know, but at least I got some natural lighting.

Target cardigan from Goodwill, Urban Outfitters dress from Buffalo Exchange, JC Penny tights, vintage boots from Labels consignment, F21 necklace, vintage rings

I think I'll call him "Poo-Paw"

ring made by my dad in high school, other ring from Joe, rhinestone bracelet my grandma's (vintage), silver bracelet my mom's from high school, purple crystal bracelets a gift one year for Christmas

I'm kinda running out of stuff to watch lately. I don't have tv, so it's strictly Netflix and Hulu (free Hulu, not plus) and whatever else I can find online. One recent coup is that Joe and I discovered that TBS (which streams Conan, a personal fave) not only airs Seinfeld on their channel, but they also offer a rotation of five episodes at a time on their website. This is the only legal site I have ever found with Seinfeld episodes, so we have been making use of it. I've seen every one more times than I can count, but it still holds up. When I was in high school and college I knew the times when it would come on and what channels aired it in syndication, so I could catch between two and four episodes a day if I wanted! 

Joe and I are pretty picky about tv, and though there are lots of movies in the instant watch queue, we don't get to those very often. My Office DVD's are dearly beloved, but they've seen more viewing than perhaps any other show I've ever watched. Parks and Recreation was brilliant in the second season, but the third doesn't even start for a couple of weeks. So the other day I was browsing through Netflix's instant watch tv comedy options, and noticed they had The Larry Sanders Show. I'd heard a lot about it, but since it was an HBO show from my childhood I had never seen a single episode. Turns out, it's fantastic! I can see how it was an influence on many of my favorite shows, such as those I've already mentioned. It's got Jeffery Tambor (from Arrested Development, another goodie) looking like Dr. Phil's long lost twin brother and a rather younger and more likeable Jeremy Piven than I've seen before, as well as a slate of nineties-era guest stars. It reminds me of a kinder, gentler Curb Your Enthusiasm (I never could get into that show), with a touch of Aaron Sorkin-esque clever wordiness to the dialog.

And while I'm on a roll talking about stuff I like, my mom got me some Bare Escentuals makeup for Christmas. Not the normal kit with foundation and stuff, but the Mineral Veil, blush, mascara, some eyeshadows, and lip gloss. Now, I'm not really a gloss kind of girl. I have a really hard time finding shades that look good on me. But of the five I got, three or four of them work well with my skin tone, and I've been wearing them almost every day! That's why I'm making the kissy face above--I'm trying to show you how nice it looks. Then I put the dorky one in next because I don't have nearly enough dorky photos considering that's one of my dominant personality traits.

Oh, and one more plug. My cousin got me this purse for Christmas. I love the color, and it looks so nice with my soft gray coat and slate ankle boots. My aunt and cousin kept telling me they had it in black as well, and I could return it for that color, but I don't have much purple in my wardrobe, so I was psyched to get it. I'll probably just wear it with all my various colored coats without regard for "matching."

PacSun cardigan (Billabong), Hot Topic t-shirt, Goodwill dress worn as skirt, Target tights, Kenneth Cole Reaction boots

Uhhh...something. Yeah.

I wish I had a full size tripod, because there are so many potentially cool photo spots out here behind my building. I end up having to take really low angle shots, or balancing my camera in weird places. 

I'm not sure how I've managed to get outside pics the past couple of days, since it's been inappropriately cold to go out in my coat and scarf-less getups. I don't really notice the temperature since I'm distracted figuring out where to stand and what to do and trying not to get noticed by anyone who manages to drive/walk by.

I wanted to make sure you all saw my vintage necklace. Every time I wear short, beaded necklaces like this I feel that it adds a certain housewifey vibe to my outfit, even if the rest of what I'm wearing is completely different. By the way, sorry about my hair. 

And since I've been rambling on about my new coffee table, here it is! Usually there are laptops and mugs and such on it, but it's cold in my apartment and I'm holed up in my bed to conserve heat and also I'm lazy. Back to my coffee table, though, the drawers extend the whole width of it, so you can open it from either side! And I love that there's a shelf-type spot under that surface so I can display/store stuff without having it be in the way on the top. 

Are any of you guys furniture nerds like me? Joe and I love fantasy shopping for our future house with our fantasy future riches. For now most of my pieces are cobbled together secondhand or mass-produced items from discount chain stores. The coffee table is from Overstock.com, and the couch is a hand-me-down from my aunt and uncle. I have Ikea shelves that were left by family friends in an apartment I used to rent, another shelving unit made by my dad from the doors of a closet organizing unit from Home Depot, and a dresser and nightstand from Fred Meyer. My TV stand is actually a fish tank stand I bought on clearance at Petsmart, deeply discounted because it was the display unit. A cabinet in my bathroom is the bottom section of a glasses display case that used to be in a ophthalmology clinic (it has the Banana Republic logo on it, and it's one of my favorite pieces). I could go on in this vein, but I'm sure it's not very interesting, so I'll stop now.

Old Navy cardigan, Target tunic, Buffalo Exchange jeans, Kenneth Cole Reaction ankle boots

We Wear Scarves

Joe and I went for a walk yesterday to the nearby college campus, and it was terribly cold out so we took the chance to duck into a couple of the buildings to warm up. This particular one is brand new, and had a sign on the door warning all who might dare enter that the floor was freshly waxed and not be be tread upon. To be fair, we did test the finish and determined it was sufficiently dry before we chose to ignore the sign completely. And those floors sure were shiny. Just take a look at this:

Also, these shots finally gave me the chance to show you the coat I got for Christmas. I found it on a shopping trip with my mom and grandma to a nearby outlet mall. It's Anne Taylor, and while the original price was $180, the outlet price + sale price took it down to eighty flat. Not too shabby, eh? And the best part is that it's an XXS Petite, meaning it fits pretty well and the sleeves actually fall at a reasonable place on my arm. I've gotten so used to coat sleeves coming down to my knuckles that these actually felt strange to me at first.

Joe and I are on a constant search for a decent band name for when he starts looking for band members, but he's super picky. So usually we just throw out weird or silly things that we know are bad, but make us laugh. I can't tell you how many times one of us will say something random in conversation, and the other will respond "That's what you/I should name the band" or just "band name." Yesterday's reject was We Wear Scarves. Other previously rejected names include Grown Baby, Headfoot, Chair, Busy People, Sad Girl, Sad People, Girl People, and Seth Rogan's Laugh.

Anne Taylor Outlet coat, Fossil scarf, Charlotte Russe jeans, Target socks, Labels consignment vintage boots

Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew

I am about to eat one of my most favorite meals. Potato Soup! I bought the ingredients last year (hahahaha see what I did there?) and I knew I had to get those potatoes cookin' or they were going to start sprouting. My mom used to make it for me a lot when I was little, and I've tweaked the recipe a bit for my grown tastes. I usually exclude the celery, use shallots instead of onion, and throw in a bit of garlic. And since I am in a perpetual lifelong struggle to not look freakishly thin, I put the bacon grease in the soup along with the bacon after I cook it. It is also vair vair cold in my apartment, so hot soup is going to be perfect. 

I would turn on the heat, but I'm about to go back to Joe's apartment and work on music things because apparently I have just agreed be the opening act for my friends' band in three weeks. Have I sung in front of people before? Yes. But never my own songs. Speaking of which, I have pretty much only one song fully written, and about fifteen songs half to three quarters of the way done. And my guitar skills are so basic as to be almost embarrassing. So it should be pretty fun!

I am very sure that these grey tights don't match the stone/brownish color booties, but didn't I already tell you guys I'm going to be wearing them every day? So I wore them anyway. And lots of rings. All the ones pictured above are vintage, most from my mom. The green stone/gold ring was my great-grandmother's, the pearl and aquamarine ones are my mom's from high school, and the other one I've just had for awhile. It's origins are mysterious. Probably my mom bought it at an antique store.

That's all. Soup time! 

American Eagle cardi, Urban Outfitters top, Pacsun skirt, old tights, Kenneth Cole Reaction shoes, vintage jewelry

I don't feel any different

Well, my New Year's Eve was kind of a bust, but I hope the rest of you all had fun. Joe and I had plans with friends, but they all bailed at the last minute and so we just hung out at my place and had chips, salsa con queso, and Mike's Hard Lemonade. Then I stayed in bed until one and took a shower at three and took pictures with the last possible moments of daylight. There's hardly any foot traffic around here since winter break is still going, so I snuck out to the back entrance of my building for photos. Brrrrrrrz, it was chilly out there!

No real close-ups, I'm not really wearing makeup today. And my hair is still wet. And I grabbed a dress which was the closest possible to being the equivalent of wearing a t-shirt all day. 

One cool thing about today is that my parents dropped off the coffee table they got me for Christmas! I couldn't take it home in my car, so I had to wait until they could make the trip with my dad's truck. I haven't had a coffee table in over a year. It's one of those things you kinda take for granted until you don't have one, and then you realize what a valuable function it serves. At my last house, my roommate and I used a giant Rubbermaid tupperware storage container, and since I've moved here I had only a tiny table that's about 1 1/2 feet long on each side. The luxury of being able to set my laptop and a plate and my phone and my camera all on one surface and still have extra space is astonishing to me now. 

This morning I took down my little Christmas tree, since New Year's Day is my personal deadline for Christmas decoration removal. So any of you out there either procrastinating or caught in the throes of holiday sentimentality, I suggest you get over it. Everyone is judging you. I think I have decoration removal issues, since when I was in high school this house put out a jack-o-lantern printed garbage bag full of leavesin their yard in October, and didn't get rid of it for at least six months. I had to pass that thing every day. It made me so mad every time I saw it. Also, this hotel in a nearby town put up one of those giant yard inflatables a couple of years ago. Not a Christmas one--a turkey. A giant inflatable turkey. That stayed up well into the next summer. When it was mostly deflated. Did I mention that this hotel is skeevy and creepy and looks like it probably functions as a front for drug deals and prostitution?

So, yeah. Take down your Christmas stuff. It will make me feel better.

Gap Outlet cardigan, Labels consignment dress, Delia*s tights, Kenneth Cole Reaction ankle boots (yes, again)