Flimsy

I saw a photo of a light-orange-and-grey striped cardigan somewhere not too long ago, and put it in my "inspirations" folder. Then, on a trip to TJMaxx a few days later, I found this tunic version, and bought it immediately. But it's a bit on the flimsy side. I've only gotten to wear it twice, and both times it's snagged and pulled. I think this might be a short-lived love affair, no matter how much I like the color palette...

Orange and grey striped tunic: TJMaxx

Grey boatneck shirt: Old Navy

Skinny jeans: Gap

Black boots: Target

Grey swirl pendant: Baked Beads

Where: Aquarium, swim lessons. Not at the same time, that would be weird.

Hogwarts

My outfit yesterday was built around this striped infinity scarf - a Christmas gift from my sister, which I adore. I love the red and blue stripes together... I know it's totally not the same as the Hogwarts scarves, but it makes me feel a little like a wizard anyhow. I have to figure out how to wear it though - so far this outfit is the only one I have come up with. But I love the scarf, so it's worth some imagination.

I wore this for a busy Wednesday and it was perfect. I had planned to change into a dress before going out to dinner, but it was so blustery and cold that this outfit just stayed right on through the end of the day.

Red/blue striped infinity scarf - Etsy, a Christmas gift from my sister

Sueded brown vest: LL Bean

Maroon t-shirt: Old Navy

Skinny jeans: Gap

Brown boots: Target

Silver maroon-and-brown beaded bracelet: neighborhood gift exchange

Where: Playdate at our house, lunch out with my grandmother, afternoon visiting with my aunt and cousin, dinner out with Frumptastic and D. Yay!

Ski bunny safari

I've been wanting to try a "winter shorts" look for a while now; this was my first attempt. I think it turned out okay, even if my legs were a little cold. Thicker tights next time!

I bought this white vest a few years ago, but I'd never worn it until now. I'm not in love with it... I think it's too puffy and swishy for everyday use. But maybe I'll give it another chance.

Puffy white vest: Kenneth Cole Reaction

Tan sweater top: Old Navy

Scarf: discount store

Brown/olive linen shorts: Gap (seen before here and here)

Animal-print stockings: Betsey Johnson

Brown boots: Target

Where: lunch and thrifting with Frumptastic, who's in town for the holidays. I just might kidnap her and keep her here.

Fake it 'til you make it

A neighbor once gave me this advice: If you are running late and/or unprepared for an event, just put on a sparkly top and go anyhow. It has been surprisingly helpful advice. It's amazing what a bit of sparkle will do. It's sort of a fake-it-til-you-make-it thing.

Today, I was in yoga pants and fleece most of the day, and hadn't washed my hair. Just doing laundry and post-holiday cleaning, etc. The time snuck away from me until it was literally five minutes until our traditional December 26th ladies tea. (I know, I know. But it's sweet.) So I ran upstairs, put on some jeans and sparkly items, and somehow, it worked.

Metallic silver cowlneck top: Ann Taylor, thrifted

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Skinny silver belt: can't remember

Checkered sequin flats: Keds

Beaded "snowman" earrings: discount store

Black beaded headband (not shown): TJ Maxx

Where: Post-Christmas tea at my house.

Christmas at home

We had a great Christmas at home this year, lazing around and taking all day to open our presents - stopping only for a brunch feast and a walk in the snow. It was perfect.

I actually hadn't thought beforehand about what I was going to wear today - but I knew I wanted to wear red. This outfit is kind of a land-of-misfit-toys combination: lots of pieces that I rarely wear, but I think they work together. I started with the necklace, then the tank, then the cardigan, and last the scarf. The color combination was inspired by the tomato-and-olive posts from earlier this wear at What I Wore 2Day... I like how it turned out, although I don't think it photographed all that well (and I wish I'd noticed the lopsided scarf at the time! Oh well).

I hope you all had a great holiday as well!

Gold cardigan: Old Navy

Red satiny tank: Kohls

Olive-and-gold silk scarf: can't remember

Red pendant: Baked Beads

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Gold flats: Nine West

My gold flats:

Although in the interest of honesty, this is how my feet looked most of the day.

A Christmas Eve two-fer

This may be one of my favorite outfits of the year so far. I don't know why I don't do this more often: just put on a bunch of my favorite things all at once, and see what happens... I wore this for a raucous family breakfast at a local diner to celebrate some Christmas Eve birthdays. I loved the outfit, even if one family member (who shall remain nameless) asked about the "raccoon hanging around my neck."

Fur-trimmed sweater vest: Macy's

Long-sleeved brown v-neck shirt: Kohls

Skinny jeans: Lauren Conrad

Brown boots: Target

Rhinestone star-drop necklace: vintage

Where: family breakfast out, lots of cooking.

I swear, this outfit looked a lot better in person. What a terrible photo! Anyhow, I was going for something out of White Christmas. Full skirt, tightish (although mine is getting a little baggy) fur-trimmed sweater... I wore this to a Christmas Eve/birthday dinner at my parents' house. But I had to leave right after dinner (and before cake!) to get my son home for bed... there was a serious over-tired meltdown brewing! Ah, a mother's social life...

Fur-trimmed cardigan: H&M

Beige sweater shell underneath: Liz Claiborne

Wool skirt: thrifted

Grey ruffled wedge boots: Kohls (see them better here)

Rhinestone star-drop necklace: vintage

Where: Christmas Eve/birthday dinner at my parents' house.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

In which I come perilously close to breaking my own rules

So, I have very few rules for myself when it comes to clothing. The white-after-Labor-Day rule? Nah. Open-toed shoes in the winter? Nope. Mixing black with brown or navy? Sure, why not.

But there is one rule I have. And it is this: Leggings are not pants. I don't care how awesome your butt looks or how thin your thighs are. Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, please don't put on a pair of leggings and a short shirt and call it a day.

It's true, I love leggings. So comfortable and so versatile... and they make dresses so much more wearable when you spend your days chasing children, as I do. But I always, always wear something long over them. Like this sweater. Which - as I'm looking at the photo above - seems to have gotten shorter and shorter in the time that I've owned it. We're now hovering precariously atop that mid-thigh cutoff area, above which it is quite likely I am flashing everyone in town, each time I buckle my son into his carseat...

Sweaterdress: Old Navy

Blue t-shirt: Old Navy

Dark grey leggings: Kohls

Black boots: Target

Studded watch: Mudd

Studded bracelet: Baked Beads

Where: Preschool, shopping mall, photo store, craft store, liquor store, preschool again, tons of work at home.

Re-entry

Action Tuesday. It's safe to say that re-entry from a vacation is no fun — especially when you are re-entering during the week before Christmas. Thankfully I got the bulk of my Christmas prep done before we left - cards mailed, gifts purchased if not wrapped. So this week is primarily spent batting cleanup on my Christmas list. Oh, and the wrapping. So very much wrapping yet to come...

Grey metallic "inside-out" sweater: DKNY

White v-neck t-shirt: Kohls

Jeans: Lauren Conrad bootcut in "huckleberry"

Black harness boots: Target

Snowflake necklace: gift from my mom, rechained

Where: Preschool dropoff, eye doctor, then staggering around half-blind with my eyes dilated. Work at home, preschool pickup, gymnastics class, tons of errands.

In which I give next to no thought to clothes

Hello! I'm back. We spent a week in that east-coast mecca of kid paradise, Disneyworld. It was pretty awesome. And while I was there, I wore pretty much the same outfit every day: long shorts, tevas, v-neck t-shirt, cardigan. Just in different colors. It was the most functional, appropriate outfit possible, if not very fashion-forward. But perfect for tons of walking, going on safari, a few rollercoasters and meeting Mickey. Needless to say, I was not dressed as well as Kasmira on her trips there.

I did manage to take a few photos during the week. This (despite the unfortunate angle) was my traveling outfit. Pretty basic, tee and jeans with a light wool cardigan for the plane. I wore pretty much the same thing on the way back, just with a purple tee and animal-print scarf.

Ruffled wool cardigan: Marshalls

Yellow v-neck t-shirt: Kohls

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Brown harness boots: White Mountain

Sunflower yellow scarf: F21

Brown studded belt: Gap, thrifted

Yellow rubber watch: swag from my husband's old job

I did manage to get semi-gussied up for dinner one night, to get roared at by dinosaurs. This is a slight modification on the outfit I wore last summer that got so much love here. It worked out well until my son wiped his mouth on my jacket sleeve.

Striped top: French Connection

Coral linen shorts: Gap

White short-sleeve denim jacket: CAbi

Silver and brown wedge sandals: Target

Short Sleeves...in the Winter...in the Northeast...

I work in an old building with the worst temperature regulating capabilities in the whole entire world. Yes, really. I checked. I am either so cold that a wrap myself in a blanket and hat or I pull out my bathing suit that I keep in my file cabinet when the heater does not realize that I really do mean 68 on the thermostat and not 90. Okay not really. A hat is overkill. Today's outfit is a compromise. At least I think it is.

The Wear:

Sweater: Banana Republic

Dress: Calvin Klein

Tights: Merona

Boots: White Mountain (I almost wrote White Castle which is awesome.)

The Where:

Work, the young one's holiday party where they will attempt to get a bunch of toddlers and preschoolers to sing songs in unison (oy vey), and home.

HAPPY FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US!

Insane clown party of one

Umm.... this is my first attempt at pattern-mixing. I have to say I am not overly impressed with the results. Perhaps I need to take a tutorial.

However, the resulting aura of is-she-or-isn't-she-crazy aptly fits my mental state today, which has included crazy amounts of rushing around town, and a few temper tantrums (not all mine). Which brings me to my next point: I'll be taking a short break from posting. We are going on a VAY-CAY-SHI-OWN. I will try to dress cute while I'm gone, and take pictures to post when I'm back, but I can't promise anything. I may be either asleep or drunk the entire time. (Oh, who am I kidding. We all know it'll be sleep.)

See you in a week!

Striped top: Kohls

Polka-dotted top: JCPenney

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Black harness boots: Target

Yellow scarf: F21

Yellow rubber watch: swag from my husband's old job

Where: Cleaning, storytime, bookstore, drycleaners, FedEx, dropping off treats to a friend who is having a new baby today! Then packing, organizing, bringing the dog for boarding, and more packing.

Two-fer

The last time I posted this top, here, it came off kind of drab and lacking in color. This time it's much better! I guess the blue jeans go better than the grey did.

I wore this Thursday, which was a crazy busy day, and man did this blouse get abused. You don't want to know the strange substances I was splattered with throughout the course of the day... But it held up well. At least, we'll see if that's true after it comes out of the wash.

Indigo blouse: Target

Skinny jeans: Gap

Brown boots: Target

Purple infinity scarf: J.Crew

Where: Preschool dropoff, parent-teacher conference, blooddraw, post office, appliance store, shopping for wrapping supplies, three sporting goods stores, grocery shopping, preschool pickup, packaging cookies and massive amounts of cooking.

Last night was our neighborhood cookie swap (really a cover for drinking wine with the ladies of the neighborhood). And there are some pretty fancy ladies in our neighborhood. There were sequins galore! I think I may have been the only one not in black.

Blue-and-metallic-silver striped top: TJMaxx?

Tan suede pants: Target Mizrahi

Nude pumps: Franco Sarto

Where: Neighborhood cookie swap/wine-drinking.

Rusty

Today's outfit accomplishes two goals:

1. Wear the "forgotten" items from my closet... the ones I hang onto for years but for some reason always pass over. This skirt qualifies. I bought it at JCrew so long ago that I can't remember what state I was living in at the time. But it's perfectly fine, and I still love the rust color. My recent acquisition of these brown boots may have brought the skirt back into play - I haven't had knee-high brown boots in ages, and the skirt is long enough that it skews frumpy without boots.

2. Wear things that "go" together even if they don't quite match. The scarf is technically orange-and-black instead of rust-and-brown, but you know what? I still like them together. So there.

Brown cardigan: Target

Rust-colored corduroy skirt: JCrew

Brown leggings (unseen but necessary): Old Navy

Brown boots: Target

Where: Gymnastics class, work at home, preschool holiday party, meeting the chimney sweep, playdate, baking nine dozen cookies for a cookie swap, continuing ed class.

Earthy

I'm catching up! This is Tuesday's outfit. And while I wish I'd figured out a way to incorporate more color, I have to say that this outfit was perfect for Action Tuesday.

Also, my friend D says that these types of cuffs (see them better here) are called "hobo mitts." Which made me laugh all day. I love them, even though I curse them every time I have to wash my hands, eat, or do dishes. Which - let's face it - is pretty much every five minutes around here.

Brown turtleneck tunic: CAbi

Grey skinny jeans: Old Navy

Brown boots: Target

Where: Preschool dropoff, vacuum cleaner dissection (don't ask), boatloads of work at home, preschool pickup, voting, gymnastics class, drycleaner, grocery store, cooking, eight kabillion Christmas cards.

Day late, dollar short

Hello! So this is actually Monday's outfit. Impressive, I know! I took the photo late in the day, and I hope I wasn't quite this wrinkled and rumpled all day...

I don't have much to say about this actually... I just wanted to wear the plum-colored jeans again, and I like how the grey works with it. I had some issues with the tank underneath, though. Do I tuck it in? Let it hang out? First world problems, for sure.

Heathered charcoal cowlneck sweater: Target

Grey tank (underneath): Old Navy

Jeans: Lauren Conrad bootcut in "honeysuckle"

Black harness boots: Target

Where: Carwash, drycleaner, lunch with my grandmother, work at home.

Sassy!

For some reason I find the word "sassy" absolutely hysterical. This outfit is not exactly sassy. This pose: maybe sassy. I've been wearing this color combination a lot. I think SP has been sending me subliminal messages or something because she's all over the purple/mocha combo. Because she is sassy.

The Sassy Wear:
Sweater: Laura Ashley

Dress: Calvin Klein

Tights: Target

Harness boots: White Mountain

The Sassy Where:

Office, store to pick up my winnings (I won a gift basket at a benefit), and....home.

Nothing fancy

This was actually yesterday's outfit... it was a cold and busy Friday so my outfit is kind of plain and comfortable. But I do like the low neck on this sweatervest; at least it gives it a slightly interesting proportion...

White v-neck long-sleeve t-shirt: Kohl's

Blue sweatervest: Can't remember, but I suspect TJMaxx

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Brown harness boots: White Mountain

Grey suede rope bracelet: Baked Beads

Where: Christmas decorating, oven repair (again!), jewelry closeout sale, gingerbread-house-building, dinner out BY MYSELF with a good book (hooray!), hockey game (although I'm not sure this even counts since I kept my coat on the whole time).

Pretty awesome day, really, which kind of makes up for Thursday being rotten!

Branching out

I've been wanting to try out colored jeans for a while... I keep seeing yellow or red ones online everywhere. Those may be a little bright for me right now... but when I saw these plum-colored ones, I thought they'd make a good first pair. I know, I'm so wild.

Grey three-quarter-sleeve shirt: Old Navy

Grey "moto" sweater vest: Old Navy

Jeans: Lauren Conrad bootcut in "huckleberry"

Black harness boots: Target

Where: Home with a sick boy, visit to the neighbors.

Stripes Please!

For some reason, I had it in my head that I wanted a striped shirt exactly like the one I am wearing. Well, tada! I went shopping with a friend on Saturday and there it was. Sitting on the shelf with its brethren. Waiting to be purchased. At first I picked up the white one with blue stripes but no... It did not have the appeal as this lovely navy blue and grey striped gal sitting a few short piles away. And guess what, she wanted a home. So for a mere $11.97, she became mine.

Actually, this shirt is really soft and I am not fully convinced that this is not a pajama top. I know I always lament about not being able to wear pajamas to the office, so there! I showed them. I am wearing a pajama shirt to work. The only one thing I am not thrilled with is the little pocket. I might try to remove it but I'm worried about the damage I'll cause because let's face it, I'm not Captain Crafty.

The Wear:

Striped! Shirt!: Aerie

Camisole: Banana Republic

Long and Lean (ha!) Jeans: Gap

Scarf: I dunno

Bracelet: All That Glitters

The Where:
Office, Wegman's, Co-Op

Wicked

Okay. These tights make me think of Elphaba from Wicked. Or perhaps the Hulk. I bought them on Saturday at Macy's because they were on sale and I like the color but they definitely need to be worn with boots because if too much is showing, well, I like more like a witch than normal.

I'm not terrible pleased with this outfit. I changed three times. If I could have worn my pajamas to work, a bar association cocktail party and then a science group Christmas party, I would have. And I would have rocked my Middlebury sweatshirt from 1980 (it was my brother-in-law's) like no one's business. But I have to seem somewhat professional so instead I went with mixing brown and black and adding in a hint of Hulk. How awesome is that?

The Wear:

Cashmere sweater: Macy's

Skirt: Marshall's/TJ Maxx

Tights: Hue (for Hulk)

Boots: White Mountain

The Where:

Work (yawn), cocktail party, Christmas/holiday/geek fest (did I mention this is a scientist society party?)

Cocoa

I'll admit it: I spent the bulk of today in yoga pants and a huge sweatshirt. I was staying around the house, digging out storage boxes, decorating the Christmas tree and baking; I really didn't see the need to put on anything nice for that! But this evening I had a class, so I dragged myself into some more decent clothes. I'm sure all of my classmates were quite grateful actually.

I like my color palette here because I look like a cup of cocoa. Brown on the bottom, then lighter brown with a marshmallow topping. Mmm, cocoa.

White flyaway cardigan: Cynthia Rowley

Brown v-neck t-shirt: Kohl's

Brown jeans: CAbi

Beaded ballet flats: Naughty Monkey

Pink-and-white bead necklace: Talbots? From a zillion years ago.

Great Great Aunt Bea

Raise your hand if your outfit is inspired by your long deceased somewhat eccentric Great Great Aunt Bea? I thought so. Last night I went to a fundraiser for a therapeutic horse riding center at a store which sells costume jewelry. I spent most of the time trying to balance my wine and cheese on a little tray while trying to figure out what bedazzled headband would fit which niece. I successfully found Christmas gifts for the four younger nieces. Score! And while I was there, I decided to pick up a little something for myself. And that's when I saw it. It being this pin. A bright green and pinkish pin surrounded in fake black and green fur. Although it is ostentatious as all get out, I love it. I love it soooooooo much that I decided to where my black turtleneck and black plants so the pin becomes the ultimate focus of today's ensemble. And that, my friends, is what my Great Great Aunt Bea would do.

The Wear:

Brooch: All That Glitters

Turtleneck: Mossimo

Camisole: Forever 21?

Pants: Merona Fit 2

Shoes: Dansko Clogs (it's doing the wintry mix thing so I need to wear "sensible" shoes.)

The Where:

The office, preschool pickup, Qdoba for dinner with boy, Target for diapers, home and hopefully early bedtime as the young one is not feeling well, like me, and woke up at too early o'clock and wanted us to "Please stand UP!"

Layering

Hello and welcome to Action Tuesday! Today's outfit was inspired by Kendi's lookbook for Fossil - where she advises taking a sleeveless dress into winter by wearing it with a cardigan and vest (#21 in her lookbook). I didn't have exactly the same elements she did - and my look is a little more rough-and-tumble - but I think this worked. I'll have to try it again with some other dresses. And the boots and leggings made wearing a dress entirely suitable for Action Tuesday.

Floral sundress (seen briefly before here): Old Navy

Brown cardigan: Target

Brown vest: LL Bean

Brown leggings: Old Navy

Brown boots: Target

Yellow rubber watch: swag from my husband's old job

Where: Preschool dropoff, library, drycleaners, post office, blood draw, bank, home store, bottle return center, mall errand, meeting with contractor, preschool pickup, lunch with my grandmother, negotiating a small-boy-meltdown in the parking lot, shopping for Christmas decorations, gymnastics class, and home for cartoons and popcorn on the couch.

(Phew. I'm glad Action Tuesday only comes once a week.)

Comfy Cozy Day

And.........................Frumptastic is back. I decided to take a sabbatical during the warmer months because we traveled and I got distracted by shiny things. So anyway, I'm back. It's almost December and that means dressing in layers and trying not to look like a bulky roll. I titled my post "Comfy Cozy Day" because my son's preschool is having comfy cozy day and he dressed in a Middlebury sweatshirt and sweatpants this morning. Can I say, jealous much? We both have colds so sweats are much more appealing than office wear.

I suppose I am not dressed in comfy cozy. Instead let's call it "Librarian Chic." Once upon a time, okay yesterday, I wanted to be a librarian. So it is only appropriate that I dress like one today so I can pretend I am not what I really am. Follow?

This outfit is centered around a LAURA ASHLEY sweater. My teenage years centered around LAURA ASHLEY clothes when wearing floral dresses was really cool when you were 15. Wait, it wasn't? There was a Laura Ashely in our hometown and my brother's ex-girlfriend worked there so score! Bright blue and pink floral dresses galore! Now I do not think you can find a Laura Ashley store in the U.S. (at least not anywhere near me and that's what matters) so I can no longer drape myself in floral frocks. Sad. Actually, the last time I saw a Laura Ashley store was in Helsinki, Finland. Weird, right?

The Wear:

Sweater: LAURA ASHLEY (duh)

Dress: Mossimo

Tissue long sleeved tee: J. Crew

Tights: Target

Boots: White Mountain

The Where:

Office, Home. Not to the gym. Running in wool is itchy.

Close but not quite

Do you ever have one of those days where nothing seems to fit and everything just seems... wrong? That was today for me. This sweater seemed like a good idea in the morning, but I was too cold with the front open, and too puffy to want my stomach on display. So then the belt seemed like a good idea... but this is clearly the wrong belt. Note to self for next time: Thicker belt. Or sweatpants.

Camel cardigan: Target

White v-neck t-shirt: Kohls

Skinny jeans: Lauren Conrad

Brown boots: Target

Belt: "vintage" Gap, thrifted

Necklace: self-made

Where: Mechanic, errands, cooking.

Wine and chocolate

Well. This may be the winner for worst-quality photo I've posted here. Sorry.

I wore this for a day-after-Thanksgiving tree-lighting and family party. I swear it looked better in person! The sweater is a lightweight wool and sort of a heathered burgundy color. The jeans are brown. It's sort of a wine-and-chocolate pairing (my favorite working-late-at-my-home-desk treat)... And the leaf pin you've seen before here. Overall I thought it was a good Thanksgiving color scheme.

Burgundy wool cowlneck sweater: Target

Brown jeans: CAbi

Brown harness boots: White Mountain

"Jeweled" leaf pin: thrifted

Where: town tree-lighting, family dinner party.

Sea of silver

Hello! And Happy Thanksgiving! In an unprecedented turn of events, I'm offering a photo not taken in my usual surroundings. This is, of course, because I forgot to take my photo before I left for Thanksgiving dinner and thus had to creep up to my parents' guest room and photograph myself with my grandfather's old upholstered recliner in the background (which I love, because it reminds me of him). I have to say, though, I love this room. The sloped ceilings make me feel like a giant. And I am not a tall person.

Silver cropped silk jacket: Ann Taylor, thrifted

Long-sleeve t-shirt: Banana Republic from a bajillion years ago

Wide-leg tweedy trousers: CAbi

Grey buckle boots: White Mountain

Silver link bracelet: Tiffany, a gift

Silver sequined hair clip: F21 (And I would like to know WHO put those grey hairs in there? I wasn't notified.)

Where: Thanksgiving dinner!

Tough

I got a few enthusiastic compliments on this sweater today. Which is funny because it's really a very ordinary sweater overall; it's just those "leather" accents on the shoulder that seem to get people's attention. But I like it. And it was well suited for Action Tuesday.

Wool cowlneck sweater with "leather" shoulders: TJMaxx? Marshalls? Can't remember.

Pink long-sleeve shirt: Old Navy

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Brown harness boots: White Mountain

Yellow rubber watch: swag from my husband's old job

Where: Open gym, errands (during which I managed to shut my coat in the car door while outside of the car, very graceful and all caught on the bank camera system), lunch with my grandmother, more errands, gymnastics class, dealing with the oven repair guy. (Yes, the oven is broken! Right before Thanksgiving!) Oh - and cleaning up the TEN presents the dog left in five different rooms while we were out doing the aforementioned. Why did I want a dog, again? Ugh.

Now: eating cookies and drinking wine.

Blending into the background

I swear, this outfit looked better in person. The shoes and cardigan are gold metallic, not the blah beige they seem here... but the proportions are kind of off. I wish the cardigan was longer. Maybe next time I'll wear it with wide-leg pants. That might help. On whole I wasn't super-impressed with this outfit, but the one I had planned to wear ended up not working either! Ah well. One of those nights.

Gold metallic cardigan: Old Navy

Cream sweater shell: Liz Claiborne from a billion years ago

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Gold metallic flats: Nine west

Gold and freshwater pearl necklace: Gift from an ex-boyfriend (I only wear this one every few years and usually when my husband's out of town!)

Gold bracelets: Gifts from my aunt and mother-in-law

Ripped curtain in the background: courtesy of my dog, who still cannot contain himself when the UPS truck comes.

Where: out to dinner with friends.

Not pajamas (mostly)

I have decided that camel is one of my colors for this winter. Do you ever do that? Declare colors for yourself? (My colors are BLUSH and BASHFUL, Mama.) Anyhow, camel is one of them. Plum is the other. It's a whole (wild!) variation on my newfound love of yellow and purple this summer.

It's Saturday, it's cold, and I'm tired. This outfit is so comfy it feels almost like cheating... like leaving the house in pajamas. The cardigan is a new acquisition from the Target and I loooovve it. Especially the detailing in the, umm, butt region.

Camel cardigan: Target

White cowl-neck tank: Old Navy

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Beaded ballet flats: Naughty Monkey

Necklace: petrified wood pendant from a trunk show many years ago

Where: Magic show at school, bakery for fresh bread and local eggs, high school hockey game, moonlight wagon ride (I'll be changing into boots for that one!)

A little chilly

Sorry for the poor photo quality today. Had some lighting trouble. Ah well.

I'm having a hard time predicting the temperature these days (and yes, I have an outdoor thermometer). When I wear scarves, I swelter. And today, despite this little cashmere sweater being the warmest short-sleeve item I own... I was cold all day. Someday I'll get this right.

Cashmere sweater: Cynthia Rowley

Black v-neck t-shirt: Old Navy

Navy jeans: Lauren Conrad

Animal-print flats: Bandolino

Watch: Faux-lex, my husband brought it back from Shanghai on one of his trips

Pearl-and-crystal bracelet: Red Envelope, a gift from my grandparents

Where: Delivering a dozen Christmas wreathes to family and friends, music class at the library, tea with my aunt, lunch out with my little man, playdate, damage control from aforementioned playdate, quiet evening in.

Slouch

People, I was in a BAD mood this morning. Just... bad. I had planned this outfit the night before, but I probably would have grabbed this sweater anyhow. It just... soothes me. I like that I have an excuse to slouch and stuff my hands in the front pocket like a sullen teenager. And I wasn't too far from a sullen teenager this morning.

But then! I blew off my work and disastrous house, and went for a massage. I can't remember the last time I did that. And then instead of being in a bad mood, I spent the rest of the day wandering around in a half-awake stupor, which actually made me much more pleasant to deal with really. Wow - pedicure last night and massage today. Who do I think I am, one of the Real Housewives?

Grey metallic "inside-out" sweater: DKNY

Skinny jeans: Lauren Conrad

Black boots: Target

Silver circle necklace: Kohl's

Where: Preschool dropoff & pickup, massage (!!!!), errands, music class.