Ghost Town

There is nobody working in my office this week. I feel like I could come in wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, and no one would ever know. But I  would know, and that's enough for me.

For work:

For dinner after work with my parents (Because Brigid will not agree to sit quietly at a restaurant for longer than 20 minutes, and I need to be able to get up and go with her...and my work clothes are not designed for that. Plus, the scarf doubles as a distraction mechanism when she starts to get worked up. Now that, my friends, is functional fashion.):

Sweater: Banana Republic Outlet

Skirt: H&M

Shoes: Nine West

Jeans: Michael by Michael Kors

Scarf: Express

Confession Time: The sweater was part of my Christmas weekend shopping spree at the outlet mall by my in-laws' house. Apparently, the way I've chosen to prepare for my impending clothing budget crunch in 2011 is to stock up on a bunch of new clothes at the end of 2010. January will be the easiest month of limited shopping, ever. February is going to suck.

New Year's Resolutions: Personal Edition

1) Organize my closet. Participating in Kendi's 30 for 30 Remix challenge showed me that I can do a lot with a little, and the fact that I felt overwhelmed by my closet when I was done with the challenge? That seemed like a problem to me. So I aim to change that in 2011.

2) On a completely related note...stop shopping. Or, at least, cut back on the shopping. I spend way too much money on things that I don't need, because, really, do I have to have a cardigan in every color? And just how many black v-neck sweaters could I possibly wear in one lifetime? I will be following Kimmie's lead this year, because she has set herself an annual clothing budget that she seems to abide by very well, and she looks more adorable every day than I probably could with unlimited funds. But, a strict budget most likely means no new purses.

So...this could be tough.

3) Eat right, exercise more, etc, etc, etc. I am participating in an online weight loss challenge to kick off the year, sponsored by Jennie, which I hope will set me off in the right direction. I don't think I stand much of a chance of winning the challenge, because I don't think I have a huge percentage of body weight to lose, but I do know that I have too many pounds on too small of a frame, and that should probably change. And I respond very well to peer pressure.

I was doing a pretty good job of changing my mindset about food before Christmas rolled around, eating only when I was hungry and stopping myself when I was full (which seems so simple, but is so very hard for me sometimes), and I had actually lost a couple of pounds. Then, I got caught up in the Christmas cookie craze, and I'm back to mindless eating and too much sugar and I feel terrible. Not the 'oh I feel so bad, I ate all of that food, I'm an emotional wreck now' kind of terrible, but the 'my stomach hurts, I can't go to sleep now, I may be sick' kind of terrible. And that is miserable and something that I should probably stop.

4) Start reading again, because I got a bunch of new books for Christmas. Not anything involving the deeper meaning of life, or whatever, but just well written, entertaining kinds of things. And since Brigid was born, I haven't really read anything more than what comes across on my Google Reader and the occasional issue of US Weekly, so I should probably start with the easy reads before I delve back into War and Peace.

A book a month, that's what I've promised myself. We'll see...

5) Start writing more. I love to write because it's just so darn cathartic. And let me tell you, I have some issues. And it's probably better to take my frustrations out on paper instead of my husband, so it's a win-win for the whole family!

Bring on the new year!


If you're interested in reading about my goals for my family as a whole, you can see them here.

All I want(ed) for Christmas...

A couple of months ago, when I was out shopping with my in-laws at a warehouse sale for furniture used by home builders and their stagers in model homes (interesting in concept, not so much in actuality), I came across a wire dress form, and I happened to mention to my mother-in-law that I'd always wanted one for my closet.  Because I have dreams of a beautiful custom closet, with wooden drawers and shelving, a three way mirror, and a big comfy couch in the middle of the room.  And also, a dress form, that I can use to try out outfit ideas without trying on outfit ideas.

Fast forward to Christmas, when I unwrap this:




No, I did not unwrap the dress, as that came from one of my many outlet mall trips over the Christmas weekend.  But what's under the dress?  My very own, straight off Project Runway, true-to-size dress form?  That's totally a check off of the 'things I absolutely don't need, but think it would be absolutely awesome if somebody else did buy it for me someday' list.  And the necklace was a MiL gift, too.

She's a keeper, that one.

Sixth Anniversary

Just like Oprah, I have a few of my own favorite things.  But unlike Oprah, I don't have the bajillion dollar budget to buy my favorite things for a studio audience full of people, or even the slightly smaller budget to buy these things for my five person blog community, or even the even smaller budget to buy some of these things for myself.  But I can dream.  And I can link.  And that's what I'm going to do!

My husband and I celebrated our sixth anniversary this past October, and we (or I, my husband would tell you) have made it a point over the years to buy gifts related to the traditional anniversary gift calendar.  What is the traditional sixth anniversary gift, you might ask?  Candy.  Candy?  Yes, candy.

Seems like it might be horning in on the territory belonging to Valentine's Day, but who am I to judge?

Anyway, my husband, the Halloween nerd, received a new (disgustingly scary) skeleton candy holder filled with whatever variety of weird and interesting candies I could come up with.  Because he likes that kind of stuff.

I got this:

That, my friends, is an awesome silver purse, made entirely out of reused/recycled/upcycled candy wrappers.  Is that not the coolest idea, ever?  And what better time to carry a shiny silver purse around than Christmas?

He's a keeper, that one!

The Daily - Silver, available at Ecoist

It took me 45 minutes to come up with this?!?!

Not one of my best moments, to say the least. But I really liked the blouse and sweater combo, and I just couldn't give it up.  Maybe this will grow on me as the day progresses...

Blouse & Skirt: Banana Republic Outlet

Sweater: Lands End Canvas

Tights: Target

Shoes: Nine West

I love my tights.  I really, really do.  But I will also be very, very happy when it warms up enough that I don't have to wear them anymore.  There is such a problem as too much of a good thing...

Let's give this daily outfit thing a try, shall we?

At some point, I will learn how to use the self-timer on my camera, and I will take absolutely adorable pictures like Kimmie over at Blue Paper Lanterns.  But, until then, I will be taking pictures of myself, in a mirror, with my iPhone.  And only when I feel like it.  Because I am lazy.

T-shirt: J Crew

Sweater: New York & Co.

Scarf: White House Black Market

Skirt: The Limited

Tights: J Crew

Shoes: Nine West

I thought, hey, there's a line of sparkles running down the middle of these tights!  That will be a nice way to change up a pair of plain black tights.  Do you know how hard it is to keep your tights from twisting up, so that the line of sparkle doesn't turn into a loop?  I most definitely didn't.  But I do now...

My life as a blogger, take two...

I am a mother.

I am a wife.

And I blog about all of that in another space, where I take baby pictures, and track baby stats, and tell funny stories about my husband and my dogs and my poor kid's sleep patterns.  That blog is my long-distance family's link to my everyday life, and I try to keep it as upbeat as possible.  And also?  Let's face it...nobody cares about me anymore.  I did my duty, I added another generation to the world.  It's all baby, all of the time.  That's what the masses (my family) want to read about.

So, I try not to bore people with the details of my latest closet overhaul or my newest food obsession or my plan to read 20 books in 2011.

(Ok, that's totally not a plan, unless issues of US Weekly count as books...it's not that I don't love to read, because I do.  It's just that, I think my days of bubble baths and books ended when my darling daughter joined our family, and I'll be lucky to knock out 5 books in 2011.  So we're setting our sights a little lower over here...)

But I am also Tara.  I adore purses and shoes and trips to the mall.  I sometimes hate my job, but I mostly enjoy it.  I love to write, it's my creative release from my life as a numbers nerd (or financial guru, if you prefer).  I try to exercise and eat well, but I would almost always rather sit on the couch, watch movies, and eat Oreos.  I am constantly changing, and I try to steer those changes toward the good side, rather than the bad.  I don't always manage, but I try, and I think that's all I can ask of myself.

Personal journey?  Of style and attitude and life?  I am all over that out here in my little corner of the world.

Trainwreck?  Here I come!