I guess the Change in my Pocket just wasn't enough

Ode to my nose
Little piece of skin and bone
sitting in between my eyes
why do you persist
in torturing me.
Why do you cry and cry and cry
regardless of how often I wipe away your snot.

That has been my day. Not sure where this came from but I have been sneezing and my nose has become a faucet over night. I probably went through an entire box of Kleenex today. But I still dressed up regardless. I've found that even when I feel at my utmost worst, I will feel at least the tiniest bit better if dressed to the nines. I took my own advice.

The cardi you've seen and is from Old Navy, the khaki cords are Old Navy and the purple ruffled tank is one of my weekend purchases from Old Navy which I got for $7.

This ruffled tank reminds me of my navy blue one from the Gap but obviously this is a different color plus the ruffles hang different and are comprised of two different materials which gives it that extra flare.

My favorite new black boots, my Madden Girls. Sorry about the scuffing, I had just gotten inside. I wore these this weekend in Chicago and they were a dream. They allowed me to look awesome, walk fast, and still be comfortable in them for half the day.

Though you don't see it in most of my pictures, I typically wear a scarf with every one of my outfits in the wintertime. I have found that whatever temperature my feet and neck are, that is usually what dictates the temperature of the rest of my body. I freeze in school so I try to stay as warm as possible. The scarf, one of my thousands, is from good old Target. I love the color!

My life has killed the Dream I Dreamed

Les Miserable was AMAZING!! Most of the time when I go to see shows I have researched them substantially beforehand so I typically know all of the music, lyrics, and characters involved that way I am no longer surprised. This was not the case for Les Miz. This was my husband's favorite musical and something I have never really been interested in. It was good! Cadillac was gorgeous inside, as was Chicago itself. It's been too long since I've been to the city. We usually try to make it once a year but it's been longer than that since our last visit. We decided we too often go in the winter though when we can't enjoy the city to its fullest so this summer we are planning on a trip sometime for a weekend where we can experience the city in that season.

I didn't have time to take pictures of my outfit. It wasn't anything much. It was very cold so I dressed accordingly. My coat is a simple purple peacoat from Old Navy which I have owned for 2 winters now and it never fails me and goes with anything. The hat is my flapper style hat from Target as well as my black eternity scarf.

I couldn't get another pictures of the inside of the palace due to the hawks that stand and yell whenever they see anything resembling flash photography. It was beautiful though, I assure you. The best part of the trip though was probably our quick stop at the 4 story Old Navy where I picked up 2 shirts and a necklace which I am sure you will be seeing in the near future. I have tomorrow off and will go to my local Old Navy to exchange a shirt and try on some of the other clothes I saw and didn't have time to try on. Having an entire floor of woman's clothes and another of woman's clearance is kinda overwhelming so a trip back might be a part of the summer trip :)

This is the First Day of Our Lives

Today has been an exhausting day and I have a feeling it is the beginning of an exhausting weekend. I woke up this morning with a low grade fever and if I hadn't been subbing I would have called in sick because I did not feel good. But that wasn't how I was raised. You either have a fever over a 100 or you're puking. If you aren't doing either of those things than you still go in. So I did. Tomorrow we wake up and leave for Chicago to go see Les Miserable!! Sunday I will most likely be grading research papers all day long, ugh. But the good part of today, it's Friday so I got to wear jeans and feel comfortable while running a fever :)

The tank is my Gap ruffled shirt that I love. The sweater is from my local consignment shop and is very warm and came in handy today as I was chilling. The pants are skinny jeans from Kohls. They are Lauren Conrad brand. Even though I don't like her at all, I do like some of her clothes I must admit.

I love the contrast in colors between the tank top and the sweater. I also love the big buttons. Buttons make me smile :)

My omnipresent Sailor's locket hat goes with everything.

I used to have an affinity for clogs. Still do to a minor degree. At one time I had 6 pair and I've narrowed it down to 3. These are my dark brown pair. I have had these and my light brown pair since I was a junior in high school. They last forever and go with everything. The downfall is you can only wear them when it's dry out, otherwise your heels get wet from either the water itself or your wet pant legs.

I don't believe in anything... But Myself :)

Today was a wonderful day. Started Gatsby with great success, peer edited research papers and this weekend I will start the dreaded grading. I really wish I could read in a car without getting a fiend of a headache otherwise I would use the four hours I'll be sitting in a car driving to and from Chicago for grading instead of probably listening to my iPod.
It actually hit above 50 degrees today which is weird for February but I'll take it. I've just recently started getting cabin fever as I watch the feet of snow around me melt. I haven't been skiing yet this year which doesn't help my cabin fever. I appreciate the snow alot more when I have a use for it but I haven't yet. All I can think about is bike riding in the hot summer heat, sweating away the pounds I want to lose this summer. I want to wear dresses and walk barefoot in my front lawn, feeling the blades of grass cutting between my toes. And I want to go on a picnic, a real one, which I have never done before. I'm ready for spring and to buy spring things and wear spring things. It's time.

The pants are Old Navy, now that I think about it the only dress pants I own are from Old Navy except one pair from Kohls. Old Navy's dress pants just fit me the best but their jeans are another matter. They think because you have big hips you also have big thigh which I don't. I can usually count on Target for my jeans.

The sweater is from Wal-Mart believe it or not. The undershirt is a floral pattern from Old Navy, purchased at Goodwill :)

This is my sailors locket. I wear this with pretty much everything because I love anchors. I bought it on Etsy this past summer for around $20.

The shoes are another pair of beloved oxfords. These are more of a patent leather. I don't usually spend alot of money on clothes but shoes are my exception because they will fit me forever no matter what. These I purchased online at ModCloth.com. for about $70. Though not as comfortable as my Goodwill Bass oxfords, they will last much longer due to their material.
It is homecoming week and tomorrow is nerd day which I actually can dress for. I checked Ann Taylor dresses online and they are way out of my price range so that is a no go. I still have a while to go so I'm not too worried yet :)

I can see her now, arms reaching out...

I did not want to get out of bed this morning. When this happens, which is rather frequently I dare say, I typically try to wear brighter colors. I never knew the effect colors can have on us until I was flipping through one of my moms health books and it said each color represented an emotion or feeling and we wear certain colors to help us gain that emotion or feeling. I've always found that interesting and when I meet people I try to judge whether or not through their speech if their color emotion is obvious and most of the time it is.
Black = Self confidence, hint hint, the color 98% of people wear to job interviews
Yellow =  Happiness, this color is pretty obvious since the sun usually lessons peoples depression
Green = Healing, after I found this out I realized I have a green pair of pajamas I wear every time I'm sick
Red = Passion of course
Orange = Increase in hunger, one of the reasons most restaurants are this color or anorexic clinics as well
Blue = Calming, both my brother and fathers favorite which if you knew them would also make sense
Purple = Peaceful, alot of yoga centers are this color and their mats.
Anyways, thought I'd share that with you. Today was a passion day for me, maybe mixed in with a little lumberjack?

 I love this shirt but it is true what they say about patterns/florals/stripes... they add about 10 extra pounds and this one does but I love it regardless.

The collared shirt is Old Navy brand but from my local consignment shop for $10. The vest is Old Navy purchased this summer and versatile any season of the year. The brown cords are Old Navy as well.

My ever present Bass oxfords and my super duper red socks to match my shirt. They are from Old Navy too.

We start reading Gatsby tomorrow and I'm totally pumped. I've never taught it and it's probably in the top ten of my favorite classics. Maybe I'll try and wear a Daisy inspired ensemble tomorrow. We shall see. I am still on the lookout for the perfect beach wedding dress. I've been thinking about looking at Ann Taylor and the Gap as well. I also have very cool weekend plans coming up that involves a trip to Chi town and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to wear to that. Like all things in my life, it will most likely depend on the weather.

Oh what a Night!

Today was supposed to be an un-eventful day where I just stayed home and read my books, graded my papers, and planned more awesome lesson plans. But that never seems to be how my Saturdays go. Instead, I awoke at 8, read some Inferno, picked my parents up and flew down to Indy. Once there we ate at Golden Corral very quickly, and then went to our cousins house to visit for a couple of hours.
We then flew back, ran my parents home, and then came home for half an hour to spend some time with our neglected pooches, fed them, and then went to a restaurant in Mishawaka to meet a friend for dinner. We were then supposed to go to a concert at her coffeehouse afterwords but that didn't happen. First we waited half an hour past our reservation date, thanks to Valentine's day, grrr. Then it took forever not only to get our drink order, but once we ordered our food, we waited another hour if not longer. And the food itself was less then par. We were at the resturant for over 2 hours and we were happy to leave, hoping the rest of the night would be un-eventful and relaxing. Guess again. My friend, whom I love, decided to lock her keys in her car. We then spent the next half an hour outside in the freezing cold trying to pry open her windows enough so we could stick a wire hanger in and unlock the door. We didn't have alot of success and then my wonderful husband decided to hock the window handle instead and roll the window down which was a success!
After that, we decided we better call it a night just in case something else came up during this supposed to be uneventful day. Needless to say, I still had fun but I am extremely tired. So here we go.

The sweater is Old Navy. You know how much I love my cardigans :) The undershirt is from the Gap, which I got on sale for like $12. Jeans are Target flares which I have had forever.

I didn't like the bedazzled buttons when I first bought it but I was desperate for a gray cardi so I sucked it up and now I love them. The necklace is vintage. We found this helping my husbands grandma move and she gave it to me. It's small and simple which is typically what I go for in jewelry.

I love the shirt from the Gap. It's a tank top so it works great with cardi sleeves and doesn't leave the bulk which I hate. No sleeves also keeps me cool which came in handy today since it got up to a super high of 40 :) I also love the color and the ruffles.

Sunshine, in my window, makes me happy, like you used to...

The sun is out but it is tremendously chilly out. We had another 2 hour delay because of the wind chill. When I went to work this morning, at 9:30, it was -4. I thought I had better wear something a bit warmer than usual.

The sweater vest thing (not sure of the actual name) is from Kohls. I used to love Kohls but we're kinda on the rocks at the moment. They're clothes are too... old woman/business womanish currently and that's just not what I'm going for these days. The cords are Old Navy. I know you aren't supposed to wear white after labor day/memorial day or one of those two (note my lack of caring) but when you're working with just a couple of colors for pants, I like to switch it up. The long sleeved shirt is a Target discount which I love and have in various other colors. They can go under just about anything.

The reason I love the sweater vest thing is hard to explain. I guess because it acts almost like a hybrid car, accomplishing multiple things at once. It's a vest... no wait... its a turtle neck... no wait... it's a shawl that opens when I get to hot... no wait.

I also have an affliction for awesome socks. Most of mine I find at Old Navy and Kohls. I have a policy about Goodwill socks, underwear and bras... you just don't go there so I don't. But I love socks with different colors and designs on them. I'll have to take a picture of my sock drawer sometime. The number probably ranges anywhere from 50-100 depending on how hungry the washer/dryer has been lately. Also, this is my friend Paddy. He's a cat. And he likes to watch me do pretty much anything in hopes that I will feed him and enable his ever expanding middle section to continue its unhealthy growth. But shhh, he doesn't know that I'm on to him :)