Well, many of you who chat with me on a regular basis know that I've been on a self-improvement kick lately, and it's going quite well. I've been adding to the self-improvement piece by piece since the beginning of January: First, I started reading at least one chapter of the Bible every night. No mandatory order in which to read, so whatever I want/need that night is fine. I haven't missed a night since I started.
The next step was to brush and floss my teeth every single night. I've missed only one night since I started that one.
Then I started a new food plan. I bought 28 days' worth of lunches and dinners in one bulk shipment from Personal Trainer Food; each lunch/dinner is one kind of protein and one kind of vegetable, and I can supplement with some healthy carbs (in moderation) as I want. I have to say, the food is honestly REALLY tasty, so it is totally not a hardship to be eating it. It's also SO easy, because I just grab a protein (like teriyaki chicken, angus burger patty, or meatballs), a veggie (like broccoli florets, green beans, asparagus, of any number of veggie blends), and maybe some type of carb (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, or these awesome low-carb whole wheat tortillas I found) and toss it in my lunchbox to take to school. It microwaves in less than five minutes and I am good to go. Same thing for dinner. And since it's frozen, it stays good if I decide to eat something different, like if I want to go out with friends or something. This plan has me eating SO MUCH HEALTHIER than I was before (when I pretty much lived on fast food), and that has me doing a lot of healthier things. I went for a walk to the grocery store instead of driving last weekend, I snack less, I drink more water, etc. It's awesome.
[EDITED TO ADD: If you are interested in maybe trying out this plan (and I really do highly recommend it), please let me know! I can give you a link to use that will give YOU a discount and ME a referral bonus!]
Then I started using actual dishes instead of disposable ones at my house, and I made a promise not to let them pile up but to actually wash them on a regular basis. And my sink currently has not a dish in it; there are clean ones drying in the drainer.
And from the beginning of the semester I've been working on forcing myself to work diligently so as not to fall behind on planning and grading. As of today, I am ahead of the grading schedule I set for myself.
So now, I'm gonna see if I can start improving myself as a blogger. Because let's be honest, this blogger needs improving. One of the big improvements I'd like to do is not to do huge catch-up posts anymore. Especially now, looking back to previous posts, I don't like having to look at 8 different outfits in one post if I'm looking for one piece or look that I remember. I don't like that the tags don't really help with anything since one post might have tags for 8 different outfits in one. I also don't like having to see the failed outfit choices mixed in with the good ones; I'd rather look at the bad ones when I want to critique or learn from my mistakes, and look at the good ones when I want to feel good about my fashion sense. So one at a time.
Of course, doing just one at a time means I have to keep up well enough that I won't need to catch up all at once. But I can do it if I set my mind to it: Look at everything I've already done.
So for today, let's choose arbitrarily from the myriad outfits I've worn since the last post and see what we have:
I bought this skirt at a second-hand store in Los Gatos and I love it. I decided since it was winter (and therefore more appropriate for darker colors) and since I wanted to highlight the pretty sage color that I would wear simple black pieces with it. A classic black cardigan (with a white camisole), black patterned tights, and black boots gave a nice backdrop for the skirt, and a multi-strand necklace and small cuff bracelet finished off the look.
So what do you think? Self-improvement blogging: Yay or Nay?
I can only hope you like puns, because otherwise this post's title is terrible. Let's look at some skirts!
February 20:
I was very excited about this sweater, which I found on sale at Target. They only had it in a size small, which surprisingly fit me! I like the polka dots in neutral colors, which goes great with fun solid colors like this teal skirt. I also really like the larger polka dots in the torso as compared to the smaller dots on the arms - makes it seem more unique. (Though let's be honest: This is a sweater from Target, so "unique" cannot truly be applied here.)
April 10:
Sigh - back to the terrible mirror photos. (Made even worse by how streaky the mirror is.) I liked this outfit a lot, but the skirt was terribly made. It was a Target purchase, and I understand the "You get what you pay for" arguments, but usually I like my Target clothes so much and they work much better for me than this did. It just did not fit right, it tugged in weird ways at the seams, and eventually it actually ripped along one seam without my even noticing. Fortunately, I was spared total embarrassment because the tear was only on the outer layer of the skirt, but the lining was still intact.
Anyway, I feel like a necklace of some kind would have made this outfit better, but it was still good as it was.
April 18:
I am actually quite shocked that I didn't wear this skirt earlier in the year. I went back into my files and discovered I also wore this skirt on September 20, 2010; February 4, 2011; and August 31, 2011. All of those were accessorized pretty differently, though, so we're all good with not repeating outfits.
April 23:
Here we have a straight black jersey skirt, which is super comfortable and goes with everything. In this case, it was still a little chilly, so I opted for slightly longer sleeves and mid-calf leggings.
May 1:
This is that same skirt, but this time without the leggings. Because of the straight cut of the skirt, I felt like I could wear a blousier top - if the skirt flared out in an A-line, I would have kept the top more fitted.
May 28:
I actually pinned this skirt to my top to keep it at the empire-waist height, since size-wise it would normally fall at my natural waist. I loved the look created by placing it higher, though - it made the skirt+top almost look like a dress, in fact. The bow on the blouse is a nice detail, but because it is over on the side of the neckline, I still wanted to wear a longer necklace (in this case, two different necklaces, in fact).
That all said, it was more trouble than it was worth putting this look together, so I've already given the skirt away since then.
May 29:
This is another look that I really enjoyed but that was not fun to wear. The shirt tugs uncomfortably and really is slightly too small for me, so I gave it away after wearing it this day. That said, I like the way it looks with the pencil skirt. The pastel blue with the gray and nude pumps is a great light colored palette for spring, and the pearls keep it classy.
Hope you've enjoyed the skirty goodness of this post! Next time: DRESSES.
I'm feeling more like doing posts categorically, rather than chronologically, so let's look at some outfits with mid-calf and ankle boots, rather than knee-high boots.
February 19:
This was the debut of these boots, which I bought because I really liked them, knowing that some people probably would actively DISlike them. I suspected that some would find them too "man-ish" for a female to wear, but maybe I was wrong to think that since everyone seemed to really like them. The sweater is burgundy and navy stripes, and I had a burgundy lace-trimmed camisole underneath. The socks sticking out above the boots are also navy. I probably should have worn a necklace (but a shorter one, since there's no "block" to break up here), but I like the overall look here.
February 23:
Same boots, different outfit. This was a weekend outfit (hence the jeans with no "blue and gold"), out to lunch I think. I think it would have been better if the cardigan were a slightly darker brown color instead of this lighter tan, but I like the floral top as a feminine touch to offset the "tough" look of the boots.
February 25:
And here we have completely different boots with a completely different look. These ankle boots have appeared numerous times on the blog already, but it's worth repeating how much I adore them. Despite the height of them they are very comfortable and I can wear them all day at school and still walk easily. I liked the simplicity of this outfit, with the flowered belt as the "star" of it and a "supporting cast" of a well-cut dress and patterned tights. Lastly, keeping it classy with a pearl necklace, bracelets, and earrings.
April 16:
This is fairly straightforward - white collared blouse, red cardigan, black skirt, black tights, and black ankle boots. It's a very classic look, and it always works well.
May 22:
Same black tights repeated here, but this time with my umbrella dress. I ADORE cute printed dresses - I don't mean floral dresses, which are also cute (I have many), but I mean dresses printed with kind of quirky and fun objects, animals, etc. Check out some I've come across recently:
So then, I was all, "Oh, I'm so busy with soccer, that's why I don't update the blog." And then it was vacation, so I should have been posting, right? Right, but I didn't. I took a vacation instead. So sue me.
Here's how December's work clothing finished up:
I was quite happy with this outfit, simple as it was. I chose the top specifically for the color because I had just colored my hair (darker brown with red highlights) and wanted to bring out the color. The combo of reddish hair, green shirt, and my fair skin is pretty good (if I do say so myself), and the green shirt especially made my eyes look greener.
Here we see evidence of what I've told a great many people - I DO repeat outfits. (I've just never really repeated them at work.) This is actually the same outfit I wore to Thanksgiving dinner with Aymie (Miss Smith) and her family, and I wore it again a few weeks later to work. Why repeat it? Because I really liked it! It was both comfortable and cute, which was (and is) an ideal combination.
LOL - me and sweater vests. Together forever.
I finally brought back Maxi Dress Friday! I know you were all missing it, especially in light of the Skinnies-and-Boots Everyday phenomenon. This might be my favorite maxi dress - simple black, also seen here - and I love it with the pretty cardigan and wide belt.
This is probably one of my favorite outfits of this whole school year. I bought this dress for my birthday dinner last year (which was ORANGE themed), and I solved the "sleeveless" problem with a cute bow-top. The high leg warmers above the boots continues the cuteness factor, and I just love the whole look.
I don't know why these pictures came out so weirdly-lit, but we'll just go with it. Sweater vests, again, become a running theme, and this time with the secondary argyle motif. I have serious love connections with fashion trends sometimes.
This outfit was better in theory than it was in execution, but I haven't decided what would have made it better. I just think something would have...
Last, but not least, was the "jeans day" outfit for the final day before break. We were encouraged to wear Christmas sweaters, but I don't actually have any, so I went with a Christmas-colored sweater in bright green. Then I added my cute holiday headband with a red velvet bow, on which I received many compliments.
And to all of you, my lovelies, I wish you a belated merry Christmas and a happy new year! I'll be back soon (no, REALLY) with some non-work outfits. :)
Before I get to answering the reader-submitted question from the last post, I'll show Monday's outfit:
The skirt is another Mrs. Toth hand-me-down, and I got tons of compliments on it through the day. I like that it is fitted around the waist and flares nicely at the ends. It could be worn with all sorts of different color combos, but for the debut, I kept it with simple black. For the chilly weather, I added a denim jacket:
We like?
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Okay, on the last post, an anonymous commenter asked the following question:
"When is it ok to wear black and brown and when is it not ok?"
The answer, honestly, is that there is no real answer. But I understand that that isn't really helpful. So here is the general rule by which I dress myself:
If it looks good, wear it.
Isn't that a horrifically annoying answer? But it's the accurate answer. If it works, then go with it - don't worry about what rules you might or might not be breaking. Generally, you're better off choosing browns that are on the lighter side, because if the colors are too close together, they're more likely to clash. Note the light brown sweater I wore Tuesday with black pants:
If the sweater were a darker brown, it would be too similar to the black in the pants. Same with the boots I wore in last week's "trendy" outfit - a nice tan color, rather than dark brown.
So there's your answer! And for good measure, here are some more pics from Tuesday, showcasing my brand new leopard-print flats, which had been on my wish list for a while now:
Happy Thanksgiving, friends! For right now, I am thankful for all of you, my readers, who keep making me feel like maybe my clothes are interesting to someone besides me. :)
