His Style: Nerdy Business Casual

My husband is a pretty private person except around his close friends, so I only talk about him vaguely on the blog to try and respect that although I am pretty much the opposite. But he was so excited about this hand-me-down tie from his dad that he allowed me to take an outfit picture of him.

Since a recent promotion at work, he's felt the need to dress up a little more, which is a-OK with me. Pro - he looks handsome; Big Con - more ironing. Among the guys on his team, they've also started Tie Tuesday, and he's been waiting anxiously for the perfect Tuesday to reveal his awesomely nerdy new-to-him Spock tie. I must say, I dig it. Goofy ties make life more fun.

Stylin' in Harajuku Mini

On Me - Shirt: William Rast for Target; Sequin Vest and Socks: Target; Jeans: NY&Co; Boots: Vince Camuto via giveaway; Necklace: Charming Charlie
On Bridget - Boots: Pedoodles via Zulily; Everything Else: Harajuku Mini (Target)

I was really excited about Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Mini kids' clothing collection at Target.  Since I put it on Bridget's Christmas list, I held back buying any for her until the holidays were over.  She ended up receiving a really cute outfit from my brother and sis-in-law including winter hat (she got really mad when I tried to put it on her) and knee socks.

I love the animal on the butt!

I went with the pop star Target designer collaboration theme, too, with a William Rast shirt.

After work, I killed time at the mall, mostly at Charming Charlie, and switched out my accessories for the clearance items I stocked up on before going out to dinner for a friend's birthday party.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with some of the ole college crew, and we went to Cold Stone after dinner for ice cream.  What else would you do on a brisk 20 degree night?

The Calm before the Snow Storm

Sequin Tee: Express; Shoes: Kohl's; Everything Else: NY&Co

wear*it Wednesday is hosted by shopfreak today, and the theme is sparkle.  I've seen quite a few bloggers rock the sequined top over a button up, so I gave it a shot today.  Because the sequins didn't really come through in the photos, I kept the first one dark.  You can kind of see the sparkle there.

It'll be interesting to see if we get as much snow tomorrow as they're talking.  Today was another nice nearly 50 degree day; and tomorrow, we're supposed to get 8 inches.  But we never get as much as they say.  Note to self: leave early tomorrow so that I don't have to deal with all the crazies on the road.

Ten Gowns I Would Love to Wear to an Award Show

Awards season is upon us!  The People's Choice Awards is tonight, and I'm excited to watch actors from some of my favorite shows hosting (Kaley Cuoco - Penny from The Big Bang Theory) and presenting (cast of How I Met Your Mother).  Then Sunday, we have my favorite award show, the Golden Globes.  With many, many more to come!

To celebrate, here are ten dresses from this past year's runway that I would love to wear on the red carpet (disclaimer: there's a lot of yellow):

Elie Saab has been on my designer radar ever since Anna Kendrick wore this romantic blush gown to the 2010 Oscars.  If I were super famous, my goal would be to become his muse.

Oscar de la Renta

Christian Siriano's aesthetic is a little kooky sometimes, but I would love to just listen to him talk fabulously and laugh at whatever he says while he's fitting my dress.

Monique Lhullier

I had to add in something by Marchesa because I love everything Blake Lively wears by them even though it's always a little figure skater-esque.

I can't wait to see what all the stars wear tonight and count how many wardrobe changes Kaley Cuoco has.

(All the photos are from style.com.)

Black and White with a Side of Puppy Butt

Lace Top and Dress: NY&Co; Belt: used to be a headband; Tights and Boots: Target

As you can see, my dog's fluffy bum made the blog again. Come to think of it, I should've kept her in the shot since she's black and white herself. And if I planned ahead, I could've dressed my daughter for the EBEW theme, too. But I didn't remember it was EBEW day until this morning.

Plan for the night: finish having dinner with Bridget and then play with her for awhile, put her to bed, then catch up on TV and work on an award season post for tomorrow. And maybe polish off that bottle of wine in the fridge.

Winner: My Memories Scrapbooking Software Giveaway

Thank you to April and Wendy for entering my giveaway!  I wish I had two downloads of the software to give away, but we'll let random.org decide who is the lucky one this time.

You got it April! I will email you shortly with the details for downloading your digital scrapbooking software. If any of you would like to order your own copy, you can save $10 by using coupon code STMMMS77260.

How I Almost Met Jason Segel

Saturday morning as planned, I got up and made my way to my haircut appointment. My friend and hairdresser informed me that Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, Freaks and Geeks, etc. etc.) was going to be in Chicago that night, doing a comedy show at Second City. She loves the guy, so of course she wanted to go. And I’m a fan of both him and trying to meet celebrities in general, so I was all about it as long as I could work it out with the hubs.

Turns out, the hubs was craving a “me day” for himself to get some work done on the basement, so Bridget duty was enough to convince him to let me run off to Chicago for the night.

I met my friends on the road a little before 8, and we drove the rest of the way to Chicago together. Earlier in the day, we had learned that Jason would be at an awards show in the evening, then doing a free improv set at 1 AM. Seats were not guaranteed for the comedy show since the paying customers for the sold out 11:00 show got first dibs. Our only option was to stand in line and hope for the best. We headed to Second City first to see if there was a line started yet. Since there wasn’t, we went on to Water Tower Place, where the award show was taking place.

After about an hour of no sightings there, we drove back to Second City. By that time, the line was at least 50 people long. Craaaaaaaaaaaaaap!!!!!

We waited for a couple hours while the 11:00 show was going on, all the while trying to keep ourselves amused and warm. I found it particularly funny when my friend would sing the “Let’s Go to the Mall” song from HIMYM, including the Canadian accent. At a little before 1:00, I noticed a really nice car pull up and some girls started rushing toward it. I commanded my friends to hurry to the car and try to get a glimpse while I held our spot in line. Jason actually rolled down his window, and a couple of girls got pictures and talked to him for a second.

One of the girls’ pictures, which she texted to a few people in line

My two friends got to the car in time to see the back of his head as the car turned the corner to go around the building. Our excitement was heightened, and we hoped even more that we could get inside to see the show.

Another half hour to an hour passed as the 11:00 show got out late, and we noticed only a dozen or so people file out. Definitely not promising. They were only able to let about 20 people from our line in, so we were out of luck. Since we couldn’t feel our toes, we went back to the car to warm up and wait for the improv set to be done. We had one more chance to see Jason when he left the venue.

A little after 2:00, we drove our car around the venue to see if we could see anything promising. We noticed the car Jason came in was parked at the side entrance! A bunch of girls (and a few guys) were already waiting in the lobby, and we were very thankful to have a warm place to stand this time. After the improv set let out, though, security made us wait outside. The three of us got a spot right next to the car, and the crowd formed a walkway from the door to the car. The driver came out and moved the car. We all started running (seriously...I haven’t run after a car in years...kind felt like a lunatic) back to the front of the building, and we secured a spot by the car door once again.

It was another hour and a half before anything else happened. The staff was all telling us that Jason had left and that the driver was inside drinking whiskey. ‘Cause that’s really safe to do right before you drive. It was just not all adding up although we were starting to give up hope. We gave ourselves a cutoff time of 4 AM. (Yes, we’re crazy. We know this.) By that time, the crowd had thinned out, and there were probably less than 20 fans there. All of our eyes were fixed on the front entrance, but my friend awesomely noticed a group of people, which turned out to be Jason Segel and his entourage, coming out a nondescript side door and darting toward the car.

It was all very quick but also very exciting and eye-opening. Although we did not get into the show like we had originally planned, it was good we at least got a glimpse.

I didn’t end up getting home and in bed until 6:30 AM. I know I won’t be able to do these crazy, spontaneous things for much longer as Bridget gets older, but I’m glad my husband doesn’t mind that I do them every once in awhile, even though he thinks I’m insane. I really wish I lived in Chicago, though. It’d be so much easier!