Just One of Them Days

... Don't take it personal.
Remember that song by Monica? What year was that? Like '97 or something? Uugh. I promise that's how I'm feeling right now. Not mad or anything, just... one of those days.
One of those days where you're like "Damn, it's cold outside. Isn't it MAY!??!"
Or you're like. Man, I'm hungry. But of course, I have to go home and cook dinner. LIKE USUAL.
It's one of those days where you have a slight attitude for no real reason, but it's really there.
One of those days when everyone is coming to you for the answer, but you don't feel like figuring it out. But they expect you to. Where everyone is on your LAST GOOD NERVE!

Sorry. I needed that rant. I warned you. Don't take it personal! :)
I guess my outfit matched my attitude today.

That kind of thing

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter if you celebrate it - or Sunday if you don't. Monday's are always terrible, but I hope it was good for you if you're into that kind of thing. :)

Yesterday at church (I'm into that type of thing ;-)) I (along with the young adult network I'm involved with at church) held an Easter Egg hunt for the little kiddies. I was responsible for the event, and along with a couple of wonderful friends, made about 60 (or a million as it seemed) little kids happy that they showed up for church that day. We hid paper eggs all over the sanctuary, and let them run themselves ragged for a good half  hour searching for the paper eggs which they turned in for Easter treats!

I have to tell you, that was my 1st and last time holding that hunt! I love children, but that type of thing, wasn't my thing. Ya dig?

I didn't finish my real Easter dress, but I had finished another dress to wear. Buttericks pattern B5211 Fast and Easy it was! I amped it up with Anna Sui patterned silk, and bronze tiny studs along the neckline.The material felt like a whisper. Overall, I felt pretty in it, although I'm now thinking it's more of a fall type dress, just because the colors are so...autumnal (?). I don't know. What do you think?

My new 19.99 open toe boots from Torrid.com. They make me happy.

(Note to self: Take photos in good light, or use the flash. Duh.)

:)

(Love the pockets, and drop shoulders)

Still working on my "Easter" dress, although now it will be my "Tea" dress (Ladies tea next Saturday. I think I'll need to make a fascinator. And buy some gloves. Or make some.)

22 days later

Well ya'll. I've made it to day 22, and haven't completely fell off the wagon. I've slipped up, though. I MADE PURCHASES. :( (but secretly :))
I'm disappointed in myself (not really), but SO excited for my loot to come in!
It was the Mr's birthday on Saturday, so I bought him some stuff, and in the process bought myself some stuff too! Who can resist sexy summer strappy sandals? Not I. Especially for $19.99 each! SCORE!

(These shoes would be so hot with my Easter dress, alas, I think Chicago weather won't allow for it.)

I can't decide which pair I love the most.

I also purchased a ton of stuff (5 pair of boots/booties, a belt and a coat for under $200.00) from Torrid.com. What can I say. I can't ignore the call of clearance.

Just finished up several sewing projects that I had been working on. I'm really on a sewing kick right now. Some of my friends *ahem* make fun of me from using paper patterns since I know how to draft my own. But some of them are just SO CUTE. Besides, I take liberties with patterns and make slight changes to make them "my own". ;-)

Finished with this pattern:

I didn't do a muslin, and just relied on my "go to" size that I normally use with patterns, and it came out cute, but I probably should have made it one size smaller (could it be possible that I'm loosing weight? Is weightwatchers.com working? It would probably work better if I skipped the cookies. And wine.). Overall, it's a really cute, and an easy dress to quickly make.

HAHA! I need to get an automatic shutter release!

(Wrinkly dress after all the sitting at church)

((Those monster calves have been the bane of my existence for YEARS!))

Just finished an older pattern that I've had for ages. I've been trying new finishing techniques. Rather than just serging, I'm using all the bias tape that's in my collection (collected by me, my mom, and grandmother! Vintage findings!).

 

Can't wait to debut the above shirt, a dress made in a beautiful silk Anna Sui silk, and my Easter dress. Hopefully it will be ready in time. Fingers crossed.

XOXOXO

Currently: April 10

current project: Finishing up a dress that I'm really not loving. I'll post photos soon.

current music: No music right now. Hearing hubby snoring, and Criminal Minds in the background

current book: This one. My place of employment is undertaking a huge diversity and inclusiveness initiative, which I think is awesome. This book is on the list of recommended readings.

 

Current shame-inducing guilty pleasure/indulgence: The chocolate and orange fingers that I just made from my One Dough, 100 cookies, cook book. Although they do not look as pretty as the illustration, they taste AH.MAY.ZING.

current drink: Chardonnay with ice. Love drinking this when the weather is warm.

current movie: I watched The Secretary with Maggie Gyllenhaal, and The Cry of the Owl with Julia Stiles on cable over the weekend, both were disturbing in different ways.

current want: OMG. These shoes. Why must they be $633.60??!! Must figure out a way to get these suckas!

current need: Besides those shoes??!! Summer clothing in bright colors (lime, fuchsia, coral). Summer strapy sandals.

current bane(s) of my existence: Weight Watchers, and not doing so well on it. Totally my fault though. I can't help it that I love wine (4 pts. a glass of red, 3 pts. for white) and experimenting with cookie recipes! And delicious, delicious goods. The points system is the BANE of me! I will conquer it though.

current disappointment: Eating about 10 pts. worth of cookies as soon as they were cooled enough to scarf.

current excitement(s): Starting on my fuchsia dress using this pattern. But first I need to finish (and start) the shirt I'm making for my hubby.

 

current color(s): Fuchsia, blush and mushroom. Trying to get with the brights that are so hot this summer. What can I say? I'm working my way there. Doesn't FUCHSIA count? And hey! BLUSH! It's not bold, but it's a neutral,and that's always good.

current wish list: My current, want, need and wish includes those YSL hot to death leopard pumps. Other than that, I think I'm OK. Oh yeah, I wish to loose 50 lbs. Immediately. *BLINK* I just tried to pull a I dream of Genie move, and it didn't work.

current triumph: I guess the 1 pound I dropped last week.

current inspiration: The thought that summer is right around the corner (finally), and that fall will come right behind it. :)

current scent: Bath and Body Works White Citrus. Yum.

current outfit:

Fail. Wait... Fail?

Remember this challenge? The one I started just short of 2 weeks ago where I said I wouldn't re-wear my clothes and I would document everything with photos. Yeah, it's not going so well. I haven't re-worn anything yet (which hasn't been hard at all, but then again, I'm only on day 11 - I think.), and I have documented what I've worn (on paper) but I've only taken photos of a handful of my outfits! You can't have a personal style blog, and not photograph your personal style.
FAIL. Or FAIL (as in, did I really fail?)? I'm not sure.

My reason is this - I don't have a space where I like to take my photos. No, I take that back. I do have a space that I found, and liked. It's outside my apartment, in an area that gets enough light to make for interesting photos. My delima is that I don't have a tripod. I know I've whined about this before, but it's really causing me angst (I like that word because it makes me think of a burger. :|) Don't ask.). I've been going back and forth about purchasing a tripod, but I just don't know what type to actually buy. I just need to try one, and see how it work.

Ok. Just purchased this tripod.

Let's hope it woks how I want it to.

Anyway, enough about that.
Here are a few of my photo'd outfits/accessories from the last week and a half.
Day One:

Day Two (snippet):

Day 4 (possibly?):

Saturday - Polyvore inspiration (don't ask me why I'm standing like Superwoman! [note to self: don't do that again!] AND, I was squinty because the sun was bright.):

Day 8, Lepoard (rawrr):

(Accessories), Day 9:



These shoes were made for walkin'.

I live in Chicago.
I work downtown, and although I take the Metra, and only work three blocks from my train station (and live 1.5 blocks from the station near my house) I don't walk to work in the shoes I plan on wearing for the day (since on an average, my shoes have a 4" heel).

Now, I know that I'm not alone in this, I see many ladies in skirt suits and sneakers. After all, we are walking across rickety bridges, stone paved sidewalks, slick marble decorative walkways, and all kinds of other dangerous paths! And although I love the idea of being fabulous at ALL times, I'm very (semi) practical. I don't wear sneakers (tennis shoes, running shoes, etc.) to work, because I feel like those are for the gym only. (Although I do have a pair silver snake embossed AirForce Ones that my husband literally FORCED me to purchase! Kidding. Force and purchase do not belong together in a sentence...) I do however, have the most comfy pair of "walking" shoes that my husband generously bought for me, then tried to forbid me from wearing. He claims these shoes are the ugliest thing created by man. EVER.

I claim them to be a little slice of heaven designed for my feet. Introducing my CushionAire shoes (the "O" in Cushion is even shaped like a cloud. LOVE.)


Now, to be completely fair, they do look like nurse shoes. But faux snake high gloss nurse shoes! That has to count for something. Or maybe the exact opposite. I don't know. What I DO know, is that my feet thank me every single day. 



For Saturday, maybe.

I could really see myself becoming addicted to Polyvore. Good, but then again, not good.

 

Saturday by currentlydarci featuring zebra scarves

Polyvore imitating life

So, since I'm waiting on my tripod, and haven't been able to get any really good outfit posts (YET!), I'm using Polyvore to re-create the other outfits in my 30 day challenge.

Day one is this. Basically. So much cooler than my real life outfit could ever hope to be, but my shoes were WAY hotter (although the shoes posted are pretty hot too!).

Polyvore imitating life by currentlydarci featuring stretch denim jeans

I told you they were hotter. :)

Like we're old friends

So. I'm just going to dive in, like I'm an old pro. (If you want to know more about me, check out my profile. If nothing's there yet, just give it a few minutes [days], and I promise, it will be.)

The other night when hubby and I were laying in bed talking, I began looking around at all the STUFF that I have. (Now don't get me wrong. I really like stuff, thus the accumulation of it. But man, I have a LOT of it.)

I was (am) in the process of donating some clothing and accessories to an event that my church is hosting, and even after 2 heavy duty, industrial sized trash bags were filled to bursting, my drawers are overstuffed, my closet is bursting at the seams, and I'm trying to find ways to attractively, and creatively confine and/or display my abundance of jewelry, accessories, shoes, perfumes, lotions, trinkets, STUFF. Right now, it's a big FAIL.

Because I realize that I'm in the state of FAIL, and I want to get a handle of this mass accumulation of stuff, I've decided to do my own take on the 30x30 challenge that I see a bunch of bloggers taking on. Except, the stuff that I realize I don't LOVE, either on me or in my closet, is a gonner. I'm also not allowed to repeat anything (except undergarments after they've been properly cleaned ;)) including shoes or accessories. I'm documenting with photos so that I can actually SEE how I look in them as opposed to how I think I look in them. Big difference. (I'm on weight watchers now with hopes of loosing my fat meat [well, most of it anyway], so how I feel about my looks in clothes now, will differ in a couple months *fingers crossed*)

I'm loving me some Polyvore right now, so since I don't have the capability (currently) to  take my photos with a tripod, I get to create them, to the best of my ability, on Polyvore. LOVE.
This is tomorrow's outfit inspiration:

4/1 inspiration by currentlydarci featuring adam dresses

Adam dress, $198
By Malene Birger draped top, 113 EUR
Forever21 nylon hosiery, $7.80
Alexander Wang booties boot, $675
Aurélie Bidermann clasp jewelry, $1,980
Ann Demeulemeester buckle belt, 240 GBP