Snippets from Cali!

There. Did you catch them all? All the food, all the fun with friends and family? It was epic. And yes, we also have Chinese food at our Thanksgiving. It's delicious and a tradition!

I've been writing like a mad scientist (a mad scientist who needs grant money and needs to publish papers, lol), so my pics from last week in California got somewhat backlogged.

In between bouts of writing (luckily my family goes to sleep earlier and wakes up later than I do), I had a jolly good time with people near and dear to me.

On Monday last week, my family headed up to Geyserville (where Ev and I got married). We specifically made a trip to Meeker winery. It's one of our favorite wineries and we had a lot of their wine at our wedding. Here I am with my mom and her mom (my grandma).

Their tasting room is in an old bank, and they actually keep all the wine in the big vault!

What the heck am I pointing at? I think I was just pointing for the sake of pointing :/

Wine tasting OOTD Specs
Calvin Klein red zip-up dress ($50)
Martin & Osa black seamless core turtleneck sz L/XL ($8 sale)
Xhilaration raspberry pumps (thrifted NWT $7)
Black tights ($8)


Later in the week, my fam exchanged some early Christmas gifts since Ev and I will be spending xmas with his family this year. My bro got this African mask from my Auntie and cousin. I proceeded to act normally with the mask. *ahem*

Ooh and look, I had heard there was a field game cardi look-a-like at TJ Maxx on various blogs, but I hadn't had a chance to visit one. There is one near my parent's house, and I found this one on sale for $20. My mom said I looked like a candy cane.



Ev also finally opened up his Kinect that work gave him. The whole family had fun playing with it. My favorite moment of Thanksgiving weekend was seeing my 90-year-old grandmother elated to play virtual ping pong on the Kinect. Priceless. I want to be like her when I'm 90.

And finally, my favorite pic of the week. You might be able to tell which side of the family I got my silliness from...

This blue and beige dress was my Thanksgiving outfit. It's a BCBG Paris dress I got at the outlets near my cousin's UC Davis wedding (I think it was about $50). It's got a great poofy skirt, a vintage vibe, and pockets!

Sweet time with the family

That's a pic of some of the sticky buns I made for my family this morning as a surprise. They're absolutely RIDICULOUSLY easy to make. No one ever believes me though. Try them and impress your family and friends (recipe posted at the bottom of the post). They'll think you're a baking god/goddess and you can bask in their sugar-induced glow!

I've been having fun with my family (while working electronically with my collaborators on a grant application! Sweet multitasking!). Sunday when Ev and I got in we went grocery shopping with my dad and Nai Nai (grandma on my dad's side).


dang, look at those bags under my eyes. I was tired from travel and from going to the five different grocery stores my Nai Nai and dad wanted to go to. Seriously. Five. Because there were specific brands and prices that were better at each. At least my Nai looks cute here!

One of the grocery stores was this Mexi grocery that I LOVE. They carry my favorite tortillas (La Finca - made in Oakland!) and they make the most delicious fresh pan dulce. Seattle Mexi bakeries I've been to don't seem to have enough foot traffic to bake fresh everyday. So a lot of the Mexi breads I've tried up there have been disappointing. Not the case here in the Bay Area. So I got my fill. Check out that platter of goodies!

droooooool. There were too many tasty looking things. I couldn't take them all home. I woulda made myself sick.

You see my dilemma, right? ;)

okay, no Mexi baked goodies for you, but you can make the sticky buns from the top of the post. :)

Easy Sticky Chocolate Pecan Buns
adapted from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) recipe

Ingredients

•8 Tb (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
•1/3 C light brown sugar, lightly packed
•1/2 C pecans, chopped in very large pieces
•1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

For the filling:
•2 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
•2/3 C light brown sugar, lightly packed
•3 tsp ground cinnamon
•1 C chocolate chips or raisins or something tasty

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a silpat-lined sheet pan.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 8 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

3. Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter. Leaving a 1/2-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.

4. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

5. Bake for 20 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Be careful - they're hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes ONLY (or less! seriously, once these suckers cool you will not be able to pry them from the tins without breaking the buns. The sugar will act like a glue!), invert the buns onto the silicone-lined sheet pan (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely.


btw, check out this pic of our house in Seattle!

My parents have been complaining that it's been in the 30s-50s here in the Bay Area, but it was 14F in Seattle this morning! It snowed while we were gone!

Other photos to post, but I gotta go do some fam stuff and then get back to grant writing! :D

The time of the year to flash

I thought I'd pass along photo tips as I learn them. I hope this post might help someone out there.

The days have gotten quite short up here in the Northwest. I tend not to have much light while taking OOTDs. So I've had to change my camera settings and make better use of my Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash.

Recently, I found that bouncing my flash up off the ceiling and slightly backwards (i.e., pointing away from me) creates the best ambient lighting for my indoor photos. Pointing it towards me creates harsh shadows behind me (even when using a diffuser).

See this photo was taken with the flash pointing straight forward AT me:


But this next photo, I tilted the flash backward so that it pointed away from me and bounced light off the ceiling (which then gets reflected back at me).

Even though the first pic had the light pointed at me, it actually looks DARKER than the second pic where the flash is pointed away from me. Counter-intuitive, yes, but also pretty cool.

Using my big flash also means I can't take rapid-fire shots. I need to wait a few seconds for the flash to 'recharge.' Actually, my camera will still take the photo when the flash is recharging. The camera just uses a longer exposure time (which means any movement will be really blurry), and the natural light amplifies.

Here are a couple examples from this week. The photo on the left of each set was taken without flash (using a longer exposure time). The photo on the right uses flash (bounced off the ceiling).

lol, Asha looks so unhappy to be in this pic!




Anyway, I'm now out in the Bay Area hanging with the fam and prepping for the big turkey day. I'll try to take some pics while I'm out here, but I'm not sure they'll be the typical OOTD variety. We'll just have to see!

End of the week hurrah OOTDs

Hooray for end of the week! My silly poses continued, and I realized that the poses made me really cheerful. It's incredibly hard to smile and act silly and NOT get happy (at least for me).

Cindi once asked me how I look so relaxed in pics. 1) lol, I don't think I always look so relaxed, but I'm glad it appears that way. And, 2) I suspect my laid back demeanor is due to my goofiness. I honestly laugh at myself A LOT during photo-taking, and it probably helps me relax.

It's embodied cognition in action. Researchers have shown that smiling or even doing tasks that make you smile (like holding a pencil between your teeth) make you rate see things more positively. So my OOTD pic taking is very functional for me - smiling and acting silly gives me a more positive perspective on life!

Wednesday OOTD

And you can see I really took advantage of embodied cognition at the end of the week.

The On-a-wing blouse is the first top I ever bought from Anthro. I saw it in the catalog, but couldn't afford to pay full price. And one day, I went into Anthro and they had a size 6 on the sales rack! It was missing some buttons (probably due to all the frustrated shoppers having to button and unbutton all its buttons), so I also got a damage discount.

But the employees were also able to find buttons that had fallen on the floors of the dressing rooms, so I just sewed those on when I got home. Voilá! I actually love the buttons down the side, and I don't have difficulty with them. I also love the delicate stitched navy feathers and airy pink voluminous fabric. Of course a feminine pink top such as this paired nicely with a more masculine olive green blazer! They balance each other out.

And this is how I stayed warm. Seattle is getting cold!!! Next week we'll dip into the 20s. Except, I'll be in the Bay Area hanging with my fam. :)

Wednesday OOTD
On-A-Wing Blouse Anthropologie sz 6 ($63 - sale and damaged discount from loose buttons + $50 gc from my MIL!!)
Gap olive blazer sz 0 (thrifted $8)
Lisa Skinny Jeans by Fire Jeans sz 5 (thrifted $7)
Navy Hunter Wellington boots ($40 at Costco 2009)
Grey scarf ($10)
2009 Club Monaco pink elbow-length cashmere gloves (gifted - Thanks Oliver!!)


Thursday OOTD

Thursday I stayed at home to finish up extra analyses and slide progression on my presentation. I only popped on some sneaks when I went out to pick up the dry cleaning and buy Budz more food. Otherwise, these were kickin' it at home clothes :)

Thursday OOTD Specs
Madknits red & white striped tee sz S (thrifted $5)
Anthropologie embroidered cardigan by Snak sz S ($0 after ebay snafu)
Guess Jeans sz 27 (thrifted $10)
Merrell sneakers ($20)


Friday OOTD

And here I am, at the end of the week, after finishing my presentation. It really was quite gratifying sharing my research with the broader area. Look at the elation!

I realize looking at the pics, that this looks A LOT like my Wed outfit. But the only thing consistent between the two is the blazer! I think it's because the skinny jeans on Wednesday photograph so dark they look black rather than deep indigo.

I really don't have enough black shoes. There weren't many options to wear with these black slacks. I didn't want to wear heels while presenting. And the huge black boots I just bought aren't professional enough to present in. These bow shoes have only the smallest of wedges. I tried to pretend they weren't peep-toe by wearing black socks. um. yah. I'm totes sneaky like that.

Tungsten photo bombed my pic this time. I had just gotten home, and he was pretty insistent on knowing why I wasn't feeding him, like right then!

Here's a close-up of the button-up. I love it because it's got a different neckline than typical button-ups and the pleating gives it visual interest. But, the color scheme still keeps it looking fairly mainstream and professional. Plus, it is SO soft and smooth.

Friday OOTD Specs

Gap olive blazer sz 0 (thrifted $8)
BCBGMAXAZARIA pleated blue striped button-up sz S (thrifted $10)
The Limited Drew Fit black slacks sz 6 (thrifted $5)
Calvin Klein black belt
Black bow CL by Chinese Laundry flat/low wedges (thrifted $5.99)

perhaps the air in here is too thin OOTDs

Nope I'm not at a high altitude, lol. I think I'm just a bit batty from some stress. I've been working on a couple presentations. I did one yesterday and got some really great/helpful feedback. And I'm speaking on Friday too! I'm really excited to share some of the work I've been doing, but I'm also stressin' trying to get my slides together. The stress apparently made me make really wacky poses in my ootd shots. Kinda hilarious. Kinda silly. Kinda weird. Wait, I think that's me in a nutshell.

So quick catch-up post for today. I also want to post some things from last weekend, but that will have to wait for another time :)

Friday OOTD

I was running out of purple things to wear on Friday, and I was trying to dress down and stay warm. So this is what I ended up with. I'm not sure I like the belt here, but the cardigan needed it. Otherwise I look like a very big box - with legs.

These were my only pair of clean jeans! I haven't yet hemmed them (I usually just roll them and walk the dog in them). I have stubby legs. 30" inseam is good if I don't wear heels. With heels, 32-33" is nice.

Friday OOTD Specs
Banana Republic green cardigan sz M ($20?)
H&M purple Divided tee sz 6 ($8)
Striped ruched H&M long sleeve tee by Divided sz 6 ($13)
Guess Jeans sz 27 (thrifted $10)
Adidas black skinny belt (thrifted 99 cents)
Xhilaration raspberry pumps (thrifted NWT $7)
Navy and red printed socks (gifted)



Monday's OOTD

I told you I was wacky! And, btw Monday was frickin' cold! And windy! We had crazy wind storms that knocked out a lot of peeps' power. Not me though. Luckily we didn't lose power. That would have sucked since I can't live without my laptop. Especially when I need powerpoint :)

I pulled out my Precious Materials Cardi because 1) I was sad I was so sickly the last time I wore it, and 2) I thought it would be warmer than some of my other cardis? I dunno. I wasn't thinking very straight. Something about how cashmere would keep me warm.

This is what I wore under the cardigan! Hooray for polka dots! I admit, I was really tempted to wear my zebra cardigan to go with my zebra tights. But that cardi definitely wouldn't have added any warmth. No way, no how.

Monday OOTD Specs
The Limited Pink Polkadot pin-tucked blouse sz XS (thrifted $4)
Anthropologie Precious Materials Cardigan by Moth sz S ($60 sale)
BCBGMAXAZARIA grey pencil skirt sz S (thrifted $4)
Zebra tights (Ebay $5)
Merona Madalena Suede Ballet Flats - Magenta/Purple (NWT at Goodwill $7.50)


Tuesday OOTD

Oh today. Yes, the poses got even sillier. Here I am showing you the Baccarat pig that my husband's middle school English teacher gave us as a wedding gift (they have a pig gifty thing going).

And what's a round of silly pics without my trademark open-mouth jaw-drop pose?

I'd been wanting to try out the cold weather long skirt trend, but it's really hard in Seattle if it rains. Wet hemlines. Ew. Luckily, no rain today. I did try to layer like crazy in case I got cold. What you can't see here is the tank top, the leggings and thick boot socks I've got on under my dress. Then on top of it all I put on a wool sweater and jacket? Yeah I was too warm today and ended up stripping down to the tank dress in the office at times. Then it looked like a totally different outfit. Not what I planned, but still better than being too cold.

The rope belt is actually the belt that came with my mom's dress from a few posts ago. For some reason I didn't want a more structured belt today. Or maybe that piece in Lucky mag about bow-knotted belts affected my subconscious.

Tuesday OOTD Specs
Xhilaration long tank tee dress sz S (thrifted $5)
Bebe Mini Studded Shrunken Moto Jacket sz XS (NWT Ebay $20)
Banana Republic Merino Wool baby blue sweater sz S (thrifted $6)
Target Mossimo Supply Co. Katherine Leather Engineer Boots ($50)

Also, I realize I'm behind in responding to y'alls comments, but I will get to them after this week. I promise!

Fashionably Musing

These posts are an eclectic collection of topics or products that have caught my eye or made me go "hmm." I'm sharing them here with you for your perusal or dismissal :)

1. Jennifer and Sherry give advice on how to get involved working at a fashion magazine. For all those aspiring fashion mag editors out there.

2. NYTimes article "When 'best' isn't good enough." A discussion of the valediction used at the end of an email.

I admit I tend to use 'best' as my fall back or xoxo, besos/beijos (i.e., kisses) with certain friend/family. In my youth I tried out various droll, dull, and atrocious closes such as: "peace," "peace out," "hit me back" (shudder), "sincerely," and the antiquated "yours truly." I didn't realize people felt such ownership of their closings until reading this article. What do y'all close your emails with?

3. When I was sick, Lanvin H&M put out a trippy video displaying the collaborative collection (due in stores Nov 20!!).

I really like the yellow one-shoulder dress (and I love that they show it on an older woman as well as younger woman. (As an aside, I also appreciated that they showed one model who wasn't a waif - although most of them were). Watching the video, I kept thinking, "That is one stylin' grandma!").

I also really like the ruffle-y skirt (which is actually in my price range-ish). So I played around with a couple polyvore sets to show how I might style it.

A feminine vibe

For the uptown chic woman

Also, I found this video from the NY Times with Alber Elbaz interesting. I like seeing images of Jeanne Lanvin herself and hearing a little about the history of the brand.

5. Why Women apologize more than men. These researchers find that women do indeed apologize more than their male counterparts. Their data suggest that this gender difference may stem from differences in construal of one's behavior. Men may not perceive their actions as offensive as often as women do. The scientists elaborate on their findings and offer some relationship advice. OMG, It's like a data driven Cosmo article or Dear Abby column.

If you don't want to watch the vid, here's a news article on the research or see the journal article abstract here.

6. Love as my painkiller. Scientists find that intense love activates the same brain areas as those areas affected by pain relief medication. See the full journal article here or the press release/synopsis of the findings here.

7. How much $ are people planning on spending on holiday gifts this year?

The survey results reported here were obtained from searches of the iPOLL Databank and other resources provided by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut.

Wow, for some reason I thought the mean would be lower than this given the current recession. $715 feels a bit high, but after thinking about the gifts I'm planning to buy for various people, I guess I could see that.

This reminds me: In doing your holiday shopping this year, you might think more about what you're spending the money on. Research suggests that experiences may make people happier than consumer goods. Help your loved ones create memories, not clutter :) Or, at least I need to try to remember that.

Frye boots look-alike reviews

Kristin from BonBon Rose Girls asked if I could find an alternative to the Frye Campus boot. While I didn't find an alternative to the campus boot, I did happen to try three other Frye look-alikes recently.

More Frye...

So after FINALLY finding a pair of brown leather boots that I loved, I have been on the hunt for black boots. I tend to gravitate toward brown boots, so this was actually hard for me! I apologize ahead of time for the dark pics and frump clothes. I wanted to take these pics tonite, even though I'd already changed.

1. The first boots I bought were the Michael Antonio Women's Nicholas Knee High Boot on Endless. I saw these and immediately thought of the Frye Paige boots I'd been coveting. These weren't real leather, but I thought I'd be willing to look past that if they looked really good.

But as soon as I took them outta the box I was disappointed. These were waaaay too shiny, making them look super cheap. They also felt like insulated plastic...ew! The zipper also didn't extend all the way up the shaft of the boot. So it is incredibly hard to get these on and off (I had to ask Evan to help me pull them off).

I ordered these in a size 8 (I typically am an 8-8.5. sometimes 7.5 in sandals/heels). But these run very small and very narrow in the foot. My foot felt really wedged in there, and there was no room to wear thick socks or skinny jeans inside these boots (which is why I'm not wearing them in these pics).

It was a definite no-go.

2. After Kim and several other bloggers have talked up the quality of Target's leather boots this season, I decided to take a look. This led to me finding the next two boots. First up, the Women's Mossimo Supply Co. Katherine Leather Engineer Boots. These ones I ordered just to see what they were like. Harness boots are everywhere now. I loved them last year, and looked for a good quality inexpensive pair to no avail. But now with their ubiquity, I'm kinda over the harness boot style. So I didn't expect to like these boots. These boots changed my mind.

The leather is thick, matte, and wonderful quality (I can't believe these are only $50!). It's smooth and stiff enough to hold its shape (even at the ankles). The heel has stacked look which is nice. And its 1.75" heel gives me enough height to keep my legs from looking too stumpy, while not being too high that I couldn't handle the slick Seattle streets.

I picked up a sz 8.5. The width was great! There's no zipper. You just pull them on using the tabs at the top. But, I found it easy to slide them off and on, and I could wear jeans and thick socks with them. The calves were neither too loose nor too small. I'm pretty sure these would be SUPER comfy for long periods of time.

3. The Women's Merona® Kasia Tall Leather Boots look an awful lot like Frye's Melissa boots. These are also made of real leather, but the leather is more of a pebbled texture, and it's thinner and more flexible than the Katherine boots above. It's a little shinier than the Katherine boots, but not in a cheap looking way.

These are taller than the Katherine boots, hitting just under the knee. Like the Katherine boots, there is no zipper. You pull them on and off using the tabs. This is slightly more difficult since they are taller than the Katherines, but the flexible leather makes it fairly easy to do. Unfortunately, the more flexible leather makes them more likely to buckle a bit at the ankle. So if this bothers you, you might not pick these up.

These are more of a western style boot in that they dip in the front and back rather than being cut straight across the top. I got these in a size 8.5 and they fit very comfortably. I actually don't like the little embossed metal button on these that much. I think I would have liked it if it were not embossed?

The heel is also faux-stacked but it's shorter than the Katherine boots, measuring at .75". Overall, this is a very comfortable boot that fits my calves with jeans and thick socks. (I should say that my bestie, Clara, also picked up these boots and LOVES them. She says they are the most comfortable boots she's ever worn!!)
These leather boots are a decent option - especially for the price, but I'm partial to the smooth thicker leather of the Katherine boots. So I'm going to stick with those, and the Kasia are going back!

playing with my forest friends OOTD

I'm currently nomming on some kimchee fried rice with duck egg. Thanks to VintageGlammz for inspiring me with her fried rice recipe (which reminded me I had chinese sausage AND bacon in the fridge). :)

Continuing with my week of wearing purple in recognition of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, I decided to pull out another fine-wale corduroy outfit - the Southward Stop Shirtdress!

Adding to the dress' woodland creatures theme (and to keep me warm), I layered a long-sleeved shirt with owls on it underneath the dress. So now I'm wearing deer, finches, AND owls. The addition of the faux fur collar wasn't an intentional nod to the woodland creatures - that's a little too dark and ironically sad for me. I just thought it would keep me warm and go well with the jacket.




Instead of boots to keep my legs warm, I went with these pretty bordeaux coloured sueded tights by Hue and some soft brown leg warmers. This is my first time wearing leg warmers in forever. I hoped they wouldn't give my outfit too much of an 80's feel.

I think I escaped okay since I don't feel like doing jazzercise or anything :) You know that's how I worked it in the 80's. See:

Dang for some reason I thought I recalled wearing legwarmers in this pic. Oh well, you can tell I was serious about my exercise habits.

OOTD Specs
Maeve's Southward Stop Shirtdress Anthropologie sz 2 (ebay $75)
Grey long-sleeved shirt with owls by Realitee sz L (thrifted $4)
Bebe Mini Studded Shrunken Moto Jacket sz XS (NWT Ebay $20)
Hue bordeaux sueded tights (Ebay $6.50)
brown leg warmers ($3)
Brown Kenneth Cole Reaction Mary Jane shoes ($20)
H&M faux fur collar ($15 plus 20% off = $12)

Whizbang OOTD and advice

It's sunny in Seattle! The weather man says that the days will flip flop between sunny and rainy for the next week. That's 50% SUN! Fabulous. I'm a glass half full kinda gal :)

Plus, today is my last day of antibiotics!!! Woohoo, it's a good day indeed!!! Now to start replenishing the good bacteria in my gut. Gimme some yogurt, STAT!


I'm wearing purple this week in recognition of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

The first time I wore this skirt, I had no idea what it was called. Since then, I've seen auctions for it on Ebay. This skirt was from Anthro Fall 2009 and is called the Whizbang Mini Skirt. The original description said:

"A subtle print, this is not. Idra pairs it unexpectedly with fine-wale corduroy and a cummerbund waistband, making a true statement of a skirt."

I know you're thinking, what the heck is "wale"? Ok, maybe you already know what it is so you weren't thinking that. Hmph. Know-it-all :) Well, I looked it up for myself and the rest of y'all who didn't know (knowledge is power! Although, I'm not exactly sure what you can do knowing what 'wale' is, but I'm sure you'll come up with something grand).

"The width of the cord is commonly referred to as the size of the "wale" (i.e. the number of ridges per inch). The lower the "wale" number, the thicker the width of the wale (i.e., 4-wale is much thicker than 11-wale). Wide wale is more commonly found on trousers; medium, narrow, and fine wale fabrics are usually found in garments used above the waist."

Thank you Wikipedia.

Well, this is some fine wale indeed, and that's what keeps this skirt feeling a little more elegant and not too too chunky. And the corduroy and dark colors make this perfect for Fall.

And have I mentioned how much I love this dark chambray shirt? I swear it goes with everything. Don't tell me it doesn't. I won't believe you. Just kidding of course. You should tell me if I'm going fashion crazy. Keep me in line folks.



OOTD Specs
Anthropologie corduroy paisley skirt by Idra sz 0 (thrifted $6)
Gap dark chambray? button-up sz XS (thrifted $2.40)
H&M mustard yellow cardigan sz 6 ($20)
grey sweater tights ($8)
Black bow CL by Chinese Laundry flat/really low kitten heels (thrifted $5.99)
H&M faux pearl strand necklace ($5)

Ok, now I wanted to ask y'alls advice on this faux leather aviator jacket from H&M. I've already bought and returned this jacket once much earlier this fall. It's $30. And earlier I was super itching to have something in the aviator style (cuz like everyone else, I fell head over heels with the look in Burberry Prorsum's collection). I also hadn't yet replaced my leather jacket that I grew too small for, so I didn't have something I could wear to give an edge to girlier looks (and I love pairing girly with tough). Now I have the Bebe faux leather jacket and, I'm not as itchin' to have an aviator. But I'm also trying not to buy things for me right now, so maybe that's it.

I returned this the first time around because I thought it looked too cheap, and made me look kinda chunky. And, I was going to try to hold out to find a real leather one.

Well, since then, I've seen this jacket on other bloggers, and I thought it was kinda cute. I saw this at H&M again, and decided to give it another try. But I'm still iffy about whether to keep it. And, not surprisingly, I saw that a bijillion other bloggers actually have this jacket which makes me kinda wanna seek out a different one if I go for an aviator. That's where y'all come in. Do y'all think I should keep it or return it?

Channeling Joyce Ramsay OOTD

Ok, only one part of this outfit channels Joyce Ramsay (character in Mad Men), and it's not this part.

I'm wearing purple this week in recognition of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

I am decently surprised by how many purple things I have in my closet. It's by no means a large color player up in my wardrobe, but there are still more items than I expected. The funny thing is that you'd think I'd notice since I organize my closet and drawers (including socks!) by color.

Sorting by color and stacking my tees/tanks back-to-front in the drawers rather than bottom-to-top has seriously made getting dressed a lot easier. It's SO easy to find things, and choose a color palette in the mornings. Have y'all come up with any clothes/accessories organization tips that have made your life easier?



Evan doesn't like this blazer because he says it's too boxy. I bought it anyway, and I immediately thought of Joyce Ramsay because of the two front pockets. If you know the character, you'll know she has this affected way of sticking her arms out like a bird when her hands are stuffed down the front pockets of her blazer.



OOTD Specs
Martin & Osa silk tie-neck cream button-up blouse sz 12($15)
Ralph Lauren Sport purple cable sweater sz M ($15)
Marc Jacobs Khaki pants sz 4 (thrifted $8)
Vintage John Weitz wool houndstooth blazer (thrifted $6.50)
Tommy Hilfiger Penny Loafers ($10 sale)
Yellow argyle socks (3 for $2)

Man, there's a shower curtain on sale at Urban Outfitters that I really want for my downstairs bathroom, but I don't want to pay the $10 shipping. I tried to see if I could put together $130 of xmas gifts to get to the $150 minimum for free shipping, but I just wasn't having it.

I've been too disappointed with the quality of some of the clothes I've gotten there in the past. AND, for some reason the website kept 'forgetting' what I had in my cart. That drove me bonkers. Does that happen with anyone else on UO's site? I finally gave up. I don't need that shower curtain that badly.

Where do y'all do most of your xmas shopping? I'm trying to keep my eyes peeled, and I just added the camelizer back to my Firefox so I can track Amazon price histories so I can grab some good deals. If you haven't used it before, it's this great add-on that lets you see how the price of the item you're looking at on Amazon.com or BestBuy.com has fluctuated over the past few months.