Day 18 of 30: To Tuck or Not To Tuck

To tuck...

Or not to tuck...

That was the question.

In the end, I decided I didn't really like either, so I went with partial tuck.  (You know, like Parseltongue, but not.  Sorry, nerdy Harry Potter joke--15 days!)

Top, Skirt, and Necklace: New York & Company; Cami and Shoes: Kohl's

But now, I'm thinking I should re-tuck once again. Arg! This shirt seems to give me problems every time I wear it because it's kind of a weird length, and it's boxy. I should just stick to wearing it under things.  At least it's not inside out anymore...I didn't realize I put it on inside out until I pulled into the parking garage, which was after I went to Starbucks.  Ohhh wellll, coulda been worse!

Day 17 of 30: Summerfest and Sunburn

Believe it or not, this mask made me quite popular today. On one end of the Summerfest grounds, the local CBS station was giving away these Big Bang Theory character mask fans and taking pictures of people with them. We must've been asked fifteen times while walking around where we got our fans.

So yeah, Summerfest with the coworkers was fun!  Even though I got the most ridiculous sunburn (Seriously, was I drunk when I put the sunscreen on?  No, I was not.), I had a good time eating, shopping, people watching, and drinking in moderation since I was leaving early.

Top: Express; Capris: Old Navy; Necklace: New York & Company

Here's our picture from CBS.  I know you're jealous of my Saz's cheese curds!

I couldn't resist the cute little girl stuff!  They had a baby fascinator!  It was so cute, I had to get it.  She's ready for the next royal wedding now!  Or Kentucky Derby, I guess.

Day 16 of 30: Green Gables

One day back when I lived in a duplex with three of my friends, we decided to have a nostalgia night and watch Anne of Green Gables. It was storming that night, but we had a hankering, so we went out and got some ice cream then hunkered down to watch our movie.

Recently, one of the girls discovered there was a prequel created just a few years ago called Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, so we planned to have another ice cream and movie night tonight. By the way, if anyone is into the series, you probably should not see this movie. I've only read the first book, and I'm gullible as it is; but from reading reviews, fans were pretty worked up about it.

Before I headed over to my friend's place, I scouted out a new photo location. I was going for deserted, but Milwaukee's not exactly deserted at 4:30 PM. I would've been better off at 7 AM. I found this alley and glanced around nervously, as you can see. Luckily, I was in my car and driving away before I saw anyone walk by.

Oh yeah, pardon the wrinkles. I'd been sitting at a desk all day.

Top: Anthropologie; Pants: New York & Company; Shoes: Payless

Recap of Days 1-15

Halfway there and going strong!  I have ideas for work outfits to last the week, and then I'm on vacation!  Unfortunately, I don't think my casual options are as versatile or plentiful as my work ones, so I'll probably be repeating some outfits next week.  But we'll see.  There are two items I haven't worn yet--a black spaghetti strap ruffle tank top and a yellow skirt.  I'm going to Summerfest with my team tomorrow, so maybe the tank top will make an appearance then.

My favorite outfits so far are probably 4 and 15, thanks to all your sweet words of encouragement yesterday!    Which is your favorite?

Observations so far:

• Laundry takes a quarter of the time to do.  Hubby was shocked how fast I finished the laundry on Sunday.  He wants me to do the 30 for 30 every month now!
• I'm lacking a basic skirt.  There were a few times when I wanted to wear a top with a neutral skirt, but I didn't have one to work with.  I do own one, but I'm not crazy about the fit, so that's a hole I'll have to fill later.
• I need to incorporate more casual layering pieces.  I can always dress them up for work, and then I'll have more stuff to wear on the weekends.
• More sandals would've been useful.
• Challenges like Everybody, Everywear; Bloggers Do It Better; and Inspiration Monday helped me get dressed a few times.
• I wear scarves a lot.  They're great accessories.

Here's to the next 15!  Keep up the good work, my fellow remixers!

Day 15 of 30: Scary Color Combo

When I saw the inspiration (EVERY TIME I try to type that word, I type inspriation first, arg) photo for today, I loved it and thought it was super cute but wrote it off immediately because I didn't have anything like that in my 30 for 30 (and I tend to take these inspiration pictures too literally).

BUT WAIT!  I have a dress the color of the cardigan and a cardigan the color of the skirt!  Now there were only two problems: 1. I just wore the cardigan on Thursday, and 2. Do these colors even go together?  They do on Diane Kruger, but I wasn't sure about on me.  So this color combination is definitely a stretch for me.  I planned to spend most of the day not wearing the cardigan because it made me nervous.

Dress and Hat: Target; Cardigan: New York & Company; Shoes: Kohl's;  Belt: husband's

Holy moly, my hair looks dark in these pictures.

When I actually put the outfit together, I realized that the colors do go together quite well even though it's still a lot of color, especially for such a gray day. The hat will have to wait to go back on until after work, and I did take the cardigan off as soon as I got in the office because it was actually warm for once. But all in all, I like the outfit, and I'm happy Inspiration Monday made me think outside of the box once again!

Speaker Revamp

Before

Notice the wires just sitting out next to the speaker and the sharp edges on the bottom platforms. Not babyproof. (That's the Puppy Bowl on TV, hehe.)

After

No more visible wires--hooray! They're finished and stained--hooray! Hubs assures me they won't topple over, so I'm taking his word for it. They still look precarious to me, but they're a lot nicer now and not bachelor pad-esque. And I was more worried about Bridget grabbing the wires on the ground anyway.

Day 14 of 30: Family Day Numero Trois

That would be English, Spanish, and French. I'm trilingual, eh? Eh?? Nah, I'm only monolingual, sadly.

Top: Express; Tank: H&M; Capris: Old Navy

The lack of shoes here is pretty accurate. I put on shoes today to mow the yard, but I was wearing something else at the time, and I did put on my 30-for-30-approved sandals for a walk by the lake with the fam. But most the day was spent lounging around inside, cleaning, watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and socializing/watching the baby be cute/watching baseball on TV. 

Since it was a lazy, laidback kind of day, I went with a lazy, laidback kind of outfit, but still cute.  Even a little colorblocked almost.  This top, which  I bought from Express near the end of my pregnancy, has served me well.  Even though it's not technically a maternity top, it has ruched sides and is super long just like a maternity top.  Also, I figured it'd be great for nursing with the low V wrap top.  Yay Express for providing such functional cute clothing.  I really should shop there more often. 

Oh yeah, and happy birthday, Mom!  It was nice hanging out with you all weekend!

Day 13 of 30: Mother-Daugher-Granddaughter Day

My neighbors were outside, so I let Dela out to pretend I was playing with her while I took outfit pictures.

Yesterday, I had a mother-daugher-granddaughter day (?) with my Mom and Bridget.  Before we started our day, I made some chocolate croissants for breakfast, which were super easy but seemed way fancier.  Next time, I'll have to try making some cinnamon ones, too.  Mmmmm.

After that, we headed to Strawberry Fest for a little bit, where I fulfilled all three of my missions:

1. Find a little shelf for Bridget's room.  Isn't it cuuuuuute?  I got the lady's card in case I want to get more of her stuff in the future--her website is Bloomers and Hearts.

2. Buy a scarf for my Scarf Swap partner, Carla from Simply Bubblelicious.  I don't have a picture of the scarf I bought her 'cause it should be a surprise, but I'll link to her post when she receives it.  In the meantime, I wore the scarf she got me!

Tank Top, Sandals, Hat, Watch: Target; Shorts: New York & Company; Sunglasses: Hanson.net; Scarf: Scarf swap!

3. Eat strawberry shortcake.  Sorry, no picture of this.

From there, I dropped Mom off at home where she watched Bridget for a little bit while I spent some Kohl's cash on couple plain white shelves for Bridget's room.  I don't know if I'll use both of them.  (Crap, I threw out the receipt; guess I'm keeping both!)  So yay for shopping for other people!

Back to the outfit, I think this shirt is kinda cool how it's different in the front than the back.



That's all for now!  My family weekend is continuing today with dinner with my grandparents and great uncle later this evening.  But before that, I have to mow the lawn, uggghhhh.

Killing Time in the Target Fitting Room

I had some time to kill yesterday while my family was stuck in traffic getting to the Brewer game, so I decided to wander around Target and try on some clothes I couldn't buy (yet).  I've been eyeing the Calypso maxi dresses since they came out, but this Target didn't have any, which is probably a blessing in disguise.  I did find a couple Calypso items to try on that were hiding in the sales racks along with four other random items I thought were cute also.

CALYPSO St. Barth for Target Sleeveless Dress with Beading in Khaki

This dress would be better suited for a less hippy woman.  The bottom poofed out kind of a lot when I tied the belt around the waist.  And without the belt tied, it just looked like a sack on me.

CALYPSO St. Barth for Target® Medallion Print Crochet-Bib Tunic in Pink/Orange with Mossimo Women's Cargo Pants (Fit 4) - Olive Overdye

The reason I was originally excited to try on this top was that it's 100% silk, so I knew it'd be nice and light for summer. Unfortunately, it didn't look good on, and I'd have to wear a strapless bra if I didn't want to show bra straps through the crocheted panel.

As for the pants, I always liked how Gracey looks in her skinny olive pants, but she can definitely pull it off way better than I can. While looking for the link, I realized that Gracey's skinny olive pants are not cargos--maybe that's the ticket!  Anyway, maybe it was the shirt or maybe it was my hips, but these were not working for me either.

Mossimo Women's Pleated Zip Back Dress - Hot Orange

The only reason I took this to the fitting room is because the material felt sooo soft and comfy. I realized when I got in there that it was on the wrong hanger and I had a size too small, so I'm sucking it in here. But I loooooved this dress. I may have to try on the bigger size once the ban is over except that A. I don't know where I'd actually wear it, and B. That flap in the front flies open pretty easily.

Mossimo Women's Draped Elastic Waist Dress - Seaweed Wrap

This is also something I've seen on other fashion bloggers, namely Kendi and Liz, so I figured I'd give it a shot, too. I didn't hate it, but again, I think the other girls rock it better!

Merona Women's Americana Artist Cardigan - Blue/White Stripe

I'm getting this cardigan. For sure. I love the nautical feel; I love the ruffles. Yeah, it will be mine.

Day 12 of 30: Ballgame Attire #2

I don't really have time today for halfway decent pictures, so you get this one of me wearing my work badge and getting ready to drink an iced beverage.

T-shirt and Jeans: Target; Cami and Shoes: Kohl's; Cardigan: Old Navy; Scarf: Boston Store;  Purse: can't remember; Beverage: Cedarburg Coffee Roastery

This has been an unusual week.  On a typical day, hubs takes Bridget to daycare and I pick her up, and I much prefer that schedule.  Then, I usually only get out the door 15 minutes late instead of an hour late. (Makes you wonder if I'm consistently 15 minutes late why I don't set my alarm back, eh?  It's already at 5:30!  Come on!)  With hubs being sick one day, my appointment yesterday morning, and my second Brewer game tonight, I took Bridget to school three times this week.  And Tuesday, I wasn't feeling well.  Which means four times I got to work an hour later than usual.  It looks like next week is going to be another weird one, too, but at least I'm on vacation after that!

With this 30 for 30 challenge so far, I'm finding that it's not too hard coming up with outfits for work, but I'm running out of ideas of what to wear on the weekend.  I have some tank tops in my list that I haven't worn yet, so I'm hoping it actually gets warm enough to wear only those (and shorts/capris obviously).  Otherwise my striped shirt from Wednesday, my hubby's shirt from last weekend, and this cardigan are just going to keep popping up.

Tonight, I'm off to the Brewer game with my mom, brother, and his wife, and I think they all like baseball (although I'm not positive about sis-in-law).  I guess instead of socializing and complaining about the game not being over yet, I'll have to play games on my phone and eat a lot then!

Day 11 of 30: Sponge Paint

Like the sponge painted garage?  The previous owners apparently were really into sponge painting because this is what our bedroom looked like when we moved in.  Pretty ugly, but not as bad as the orange sponge painted kitchen.  Maybe sponge painting was hip in the 90s, but this house was built in 2004, so...yeah.

Tank: H&M; Cardigan and Pants: New York & Company; Shoes: Payless