Alter, store, or donate?

This shirt is so weird:



I have to tuck it in, it won't fit around my hips so I can't wear it untucked unless I shorten it to the point of being "too short".



Sorry about the crappy photo quality, the lighting was particularly weird today. But I wanted to show how it looks tucked in... see all that extra fabric swimming around my waist? Its even worse in the back. But I love the fabric:



It feels like satin on the inside, and ultrasuede (but finer, like microfiber) on the outside. Which is why I haven't just given up on it. So, what should I do with it?

Hubby got a cute pair of earrings for me for my Christmas prezzie. We agreed the last few years not to gift each other, but I broke it last year, so I guess this is his "revenge". He thought he left them at the office, so I didn't get them Christmas Day. He then found the box in his briefcase at home last night!



Oh! A few days before Christmas, our intern gave to me (sing along!):



A briefcase that's nice and shi-nee!

I guess she got sick of watching me jam my files upended into my purse! I do actually already own one, but it still stuffed with documents from my former private practice, and it was always pretty heavy, anyway. This one is nice and light!



I've stocked it with pens, stickies, tissues, hand lotion, lip balm... with my spare security badge hanging on the end. Guess I can leave my heavy purse in the office/car when going to court now!

Shirt: Freeda's castoff White Stag (is that a Wal-Mart brand?)
Pants: Lane Bryant
Belt: Nine West
Shoes: Ariat
Earrings: Premier Designs gift from Hubby

Christmas prezzie!

One of the secretaries got me this cute jewelry set for Christmas, and I'm trying to figure out how to work it in- its pretty different than what I already have. In a good way. Here's what I came up with today:



Doesn't my hair look awesome? I have a new blow dryer... an Ion brand ionic one. Kinda expensive, but worth every penny!

I didn't have any court scheduled today, so I styled myself sans jacket. Of course, I got a call to night court... and this is why I NEVER wear jeans to work. I can never be sure I wouldn't get called into court last-minute.



The set is matching necklace and earrings, and while I'm not usually into "matchy-matchy" sets, but this could be an exception....



They are much lighter than I would expect, and don't weigh me down at all.

Sweater: Chico's
Pants: Lane Bryant
Shoes: Bass
Jewelry: gift from a friend

Merry Christmas! I must have made the "Naughty" list!

From the lawyerdoll family. Here's the photo that went out with the cards, since I promised to show you:



Christmas Eve was just Hubby and I, for the first time ever. So we had a nice dinner at home:



And for dessert we had spiced eggnog with a shot of Pinnacle "whipped topping" flavored vodka... it is amazing, try it!



Christmas day, Hubby's stocking was stuffed by Santa... but I got bupkis!



At least our tree looked pretty, with the goodies we are taking to Giftmas next weekend:



My family's traditional Christmas breakfast is eggnog, orange rolls, and cinnamon rolls. I strongly felt the need to continue that:



Then we went to volunteer with a local church dinner for "anyone who would be alone". The turnout was terrific, and check out the room:



We don't actually attend the church, but we know the pastor socially, so we offered ourselves up. We took a couple friends with us- they are both Indian, and Squeaky was amused that they were the only brown people there. All the poor girl could eat there was green beans, mashed potatoes with butter, fruit cup, and pie-- she's Hindu, and vegetarian.



So I wanted to look cute, but had to be practical because I was on the cleanup crew. But I was dying to wear my new earrings from my jewelry order... need something shiny on Christmas!



Merry Christmas everybody! And hope you have a great one!

EDITED TO ADD: I may need to redub "Squeaky" to "Sneaky"-- she and her hubby slipped a bag with prezzies under our tree, and I didn't find it until we were on our way to bed!

It was so thoughtful- my Hubby's mother is Italian-American, and he talks about Italian food a LOT. And he's from Brooklyn. I am definitely a WASP from Michigan who cannot cook. They got us "Entertaining With the Sopranos". LOL.

Top photo:
Hubby's shirt: VanHusen outlet
Stinky's sweater: made by my mom
My top: Tribal via Pip's in Corning, NY
My necklace: Premier Designs gift from M-I-L

Bottom photos:
Top: Isaac Mizrahi for Target via Goodwill
Earrings: Lia Sophia

T'was the day before Christmas PTO (Paid Time Off)...

And all throught the courts, no one was crying, not even my clients...
The phones almost silent, paperwork slowed to a crawl... am I even at work at all?

But as long as we are here, the judges spread the Christmas cheer:





I'll sleep in tomorrow, my hair won't look like s@!t, I'll laze, and I'll primp, and I'll say "this is it!".

But today a quick little view, of part of my latest jewelry order, to show to you:



They swing and jingle, they are quite distracting. But they make me feel jaunty- I'm not even acting!

Wow... I'm a terrible poet- guess I better stick to law!

Sweater: VanHusen outlet
Jacket: Tallman's in Painted Post, NY
Pants: Lane Bryant
Earrings: Lia Sophia

Wishing it were spring...

OK, I'm glad my area isn't hit by snow like others, but it's bitter cold and dry here. But I really wanted to wear this top I pulled out of the Space Bag:



Obviously, this needs to be layered under something. It's very lightweight, and actually a bit snug. But it will pass under a jacket, and the pretty twist detail still shows:



Now I won't freeze to death, or look like a big fat fatty!

At different times, it seems the colors do or do not match. Hmmmm....



It's really dependant on the lighting, but looks like I can pull it off. Good enough for government work! I really wish I had a pair of nice cream pants. Impractical, I know.... but it would be so much sharper than brown, which was the best I could come up with:



Black is too harsh, navy too close to black. Or is it? Maybe I'll try navy another time.... Oh well, I spend too much time in grungy courtrooms with dirty people to wear cream pants, so brown it is....

At least I get to wear my anniversary necklace! I've had a tough time figuring out how to show it to it's best advantage, but I think it works here. Yay!



Is it weird that it bugs me that the gold color in the earrings doesn't exactly match that of the necklace?



Top: Ann Taylor outlet
Jacket: VanHusen outlet
Pants: Lane Bryant
Earrings: JC Penney
Necklace: random jewelry store in Ithaca, NY

Need styling ideas!

I think this blouse so so interesting, but I have the worst time trying to style it, so it remains on the rack. Here's what I tried today:



I leave the top couple buttons undone, so it's not too prim. But it's hard for most of my necklaces to show under the fabric at the neckline. So I tried my curled-wire one:



As I move around during the day, it goes from barely peeking to fully exposed:



I like the weird color, and the sheen on the fabric. And the detail. But this shirt has no insulative properties whatsoever. If I wear it again, I need a hidden underlayer.

Styling challenges: I can't wear it untucked. Drat! I also am having a terrible time figuring out a jacket to wear over it. Today's mandatory court jacket was an unmitigated disaster:



Ideas? Or is this going to be an "office-only" shirt?

I was particularly stumped for earrings to go with this necklace:



Shirt: Freeda's castoff Casual Corner
Sweater: Limited via consignment shop
Pants: Lane Bryant
Belt: Nine West
Necklace: Renaissance Faire in Holly, MI
Earrings: I forgot

This got a good reaction from Hubby!

He stayed home sick today, so didn't see me until I swooped into the house for a whole ten minutes before I had to brave the crowds to get some shopping done. He noticed this top combo right away!



Yeah... this photo is after my usual hectic day, then rushing to get the Christmas cards to the post office, then a ton of shopping. I'm a bit frazzled.



This photo reminds me of an old post of Freeda's, where she discusses layering. She was speaking with an employee of some trendy money-pit store, and the salesgirl told her the company requires the employees to wear at least three layers of tops.

I'm starting to get it. This doesn't look nearly so sharp without the jacket.



Of course, I'm wearing the top backward to show more of the pattern. I figured I should keep the accessorizing to a minimum, so I could feature the print on the shell.



Shell: Gap outlet
Shirt: VanHusen outlet
Jacket: Talbot's petite
Pants: Lane Bryant
Earrings: JC Penney

Christmas card preview... sorta

A couple weeks ago, I begged Squeaky to take photos with her good camera of my little family. Because the three of us do not have one decent photo together. Stinky got sick the day of the shoot, so we did it today.

I'm not posting the family photo yet, because my brother-in-law is going to work some photoshop magic on it first... bacause we never all get a decent photo together!

But I do have a preview- a good one of just me:



Awesome, right?

Hey Freeda-- How do I make this my header without running my tagline across my forehead? Is this amazing or what?

It's a Christmas tree made completely from glass balls on a wire frame. Fourteen feet high. I think this tree is my favorite thing about the holidays here!

I will post the completed Christmas card photo when I get it back... I'm so excited! B-I-L is a photoshop genius, so I know it will turn out as awesome as it is in my head!

Top: Tribal via Pip's in Cornng, NY
Necklace: Premier Designs (gift from mother-in-law)
Earrings: I don't think they show, but they were a "woman-of-honor" gift from my brother's wedding.

Is this lady staring at my chest?

I have had this scarf and this pin for a really long time, but can't remember actually wearing them!



When I first received the pin, I didn't really like it. But I suspected I might later, so I kept it. I always thought the inlay details were really cool:



I wore my cheapo abalone earrings, because my order for the ones to match my pendant hasn't come in yet. I really can't wait for the new ones to come in!



Just a relatively relaxed day at the office... no court= no jacket! And my office slippers:



I still think the angle I put the pin at makes it looks like she's staring at my chestular regions....

Top: VanHusen outlet
Pants: Lane Bryant
Slippers: Dearfoams
Scarf: gift from Mom
Pin: Gift from Mom
Earrings: dollar store

Busy, busy couple of days....

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but the outfit was a repeat anyway (with different earrings), and I was super-busy at work running around to several courts. Then I went to the Junior League holiday party afterward... I had absolutely no time to get a good photo of my outfit anyway. Or to even think, I swear!

I was too busy, at least during the first part of the party, ducking the bat flying around the room. As was everyone else, which is why I didn't get any photos of me in the gorgeous library with carved wooden medieval-style rafters the event was held in.

More mania today with lots of different types of court appearances, and hardly time to jam a quick lunch down my gullet.... I didn't even have time to get my pic taken during the day.



Wow- remind me to never buy a linen jacket again- I hate how the sleeves crumple like that.

I got Hubby to take this photo after, on top of my hectic day at work, I went to a another public "happy hour" event at a local museum. Met up with a few ladies from my meetup.com group, sipped a little wine, and looked at all the pretties while listening to the bands.

Hmm... the v-neck collar doesn't hang as flat when I have the sweater over it. But I got a compliment on the outfit today from one of the baliffs, so it's not a complete disaster. And I had an excuse to wear my lunar globes:



Then I went to two stores looking for something Hubby requested, with no luck. Argh! Sofa-time now!

Top: VanHusen outlet
Sweater: Worthington via consignment shop
Jacket: Kasper via consignment shop
Pants: where else? Lane Bryant
Earrings: Corning Museum of Glass gift shop

That reminds me... I had a pretty busy Saturday too, and forgot to post. With the exception of changing out work pants for my ugly jeans, it's a repeat .

I dropped off my donations at the Junior League consignment store, then went to a jewelry party where almost everyone was Russian. I haven't heard that much Russian spoken since university! There was some sort of cabbage-and-egg pie involved... much of which went into me, as it was truly spectacular!

I topped the evening off by going out with a couple girlfriends- there was some boogieing involved.

Should I buy this sweater, or wait for the drugs to wear off?

Back to the dentist for more work, with more laughing gas. There's a clothing store nearby, so when he was done drilling holes into my head for the day, I browsed until my head cleared. And I found:



The neat part is that it's reversible:



Or am I still high? Your vote?

This is why it sucks, sucks, SUCKS to be allergic to wool:



Perfect color, super-high quality fabric, gorgeous embroidery and carved buttons... interesting without being over the edge. I could wear this to work.

If my face wouldn't explode and I wouldn't want to claw my own skin off.



Back on the rack, my beauty.... Here's what I looked like today (pre-drilling):



What's wrong with this picture?



My earring fell out at some point this morning. No clue where it wandered off to. Should I put out an alert?



My dentist gave me Tylenol 3 for the pain... good thing I'm home now, so I can't shop!

Black Sweater: Tribal via Pip's in Corning, NY
Scarf: BonTon
Checked Jacket: Talbot's
Pants: Lane Bryant
Earring (singular): consignment shop