Happy Halloween!

I had to pretend to be a lawyer today:



Not terribly exciting, but at least I got to wear my "new" sweater. And apparently decided to "wear my shoulders as earrings", as my yoga instructor says! Something else in this pic is bugging me.... Note to self: wear a different bra next time!

Why do I look like a drowned rat in this picture? I was at work... minding my own business... then Hubby's ex called him because she was in a bind. Bugalug was found to have L-I-C-E, and someone needed to pick her up from her preschool. Daddy couldn't be reached, Mommy was stuck at work. Hubby can't drive (visual condition... not DWI!).

So I blew off the last 2.5 hours of boring paperwork and picked her up myself. Not taking her to my house, obviously. And I couldn't drive her anywhere because I don't have a car seat... so we walked over to the pub, got a snack and a sweetie, then went trick-or-treating (sans costume) in the rain with my friends and their little girls. Bugalug really liked them, and we had a nice time together.

I have no good way to segue back into the fashiony stuff here:

I had an unusually difficult time with tonal matches and this sweater. The first time I got a really good look in daylight was after I got to work. Which was after I chose navy pants rather than black because I mistook the  black argyle diamonds for navy. And I didn't realize until a bit late that the lighter cream/beige of my top contrasts more than I care for with the beige of the sweater. *sigh* I will style this better next time....

The gorgeous blue crystal earrings that I thought might go when I saw the sweater in the cleaners...? Nope! At least I figured that out this morning, and grabbed these at the last second:



With my ancient bracelet to coordinate. I've had it since high school, if not middle school. If you look really closely, you can see where one of the mother-of-pearl pieces fell out, and I filled in the gap with pearlescent nail polish:



I wasn't enthusiastic about my jewelry choices today, but nothing in my jewelty box seemed quite right. Then I had to make a Halloween supply run to Kmart over lunch. Looky what I found:



I don't have any earring like these, the blue is a perfect match, AND the thingys can be removed, rearranged, and/or replaced at will. Sold! Now I just need to get a clearer photo next time...

Top: VanHeusen outlet
Sweater: via the "left behind" rack at the dry cleaner's
Pants: Lane Bryant
Old earrings: via Fashion Bug
New earrings: Jacklyn Smith from Kmart
Bracelet: gift from Santa about a hundred years ago
Shoes: Ariat (not shown) same as yesterday

Wishing, and Hoping, and Praying

My area hasn't been hit too hard by Sandy yet (comparatively speaking), but I'm monitoring the weather channel website for updates. Much of Hubby's family and my niece are further east, as are some of our friends... We have heard from many people that they are OK. I'm hoping Shybiker checks in online at some point, just so we know she's alright!

I didn't get all fancy at work today. I had cleared my calendar because I expected to be staffing a Red Cross shelter last night. But it must not have been necessary, because they didn't open one after all. So I took the rare opportunity to wear jeans to the office. Trouser jeans... not my mom jeans. There is only so far I will go:



I figured I should save my court clothes, just in case doing laundry becomes a problem. When I mentioned that I was wearing jeans to the secretaries, they didn't believe me until they got a closer look at the fabric. So I suppose they would "pass" in a pinch. Good to know!

Here's an older pic for a better look at the colors:

 

The jeans in that pic are my mom jeans... ugh!

Mrs. Spendy came out to play again today, as I was harmlessly dropping off some clothes at the dry cleaners. There was a rack of the "left behind" things for sale... so I took a look. then bought a couple things, which you will see later!

Didn't wear anything new today. I am surprised at how much use I get out of this cheapo plastic necklace that I got on clearance awhile back:
  

My lunar globes weren't so cheap, though. I always liked the "moon and tides" feeling I get from this pairing... but maybe not the best choice of imagery in the middle of a massive hurricane?

 

Let me see... I took my shower at night again, just in case. So another ponytail today with a hair flower. This pic is so old that it doesn't even have my usual border on it:



I knew it was going to rain like crazy... so I picked my trusty black shoes with a bit of a platform... to help me keep nice and dry:



I was asked if I would be willing to deploy to White Plains, NY with the Red Cross for at least 2 weeks. Willing? Yes. Able? Not so much. We have a small office, I have a large caseload. I had to say no... so why do I feel guilty?

Shell: Laura Ashley via Goodwill
Sweater: Old Navy
Jeans: Lane Bryant
Necklace: Fashion Bug
Earrings: Corning Museum of Glass
Hair Flower: Maurice's
Shoes: Ariat

Unwelcome Visitor

Today was mostly spent waiting to see what is happening with Hurricane Sandy. My friends closer to the coast seem to be getting hit pretty hard, but I live within the 500-mile radius of the eye, and we are having some effects out here. Some transformers in a nearby town have gone out, but my town still seems in decent shape so far.

Sandy just needs to go away. Really... she's trashing everywhere she goes!

Just in case out power went out overnight, I showered last night. Not so great for my hair now that it's short and curly... so I wet-brushed my bangs into place then pulled the rest back so it wouldn't look soooo awful:

I picked the top because it's actually pretty warm, fits under jackets... and is a good backdrop to showcase another of my latest acquisitions:

I snagged this beauty from the chain-mail maker last week... love it! It looks like something I would have loved to have when I was in college, as well as now. Speaking of stuff from college... I have had these shoes for about 15 years or so... but haven't worn in at least ten years. Until today:

It kind of cracks me up that I polished the shoes with the instant stuff I keep in my desk after I took the photo...

Here's an old pic of the barrette I wore today. It still amazes me a  bit... how long my hair actually was:

The little bar across the middle is missing, so it kept sliding down my shorter, more layered hair. Annoying!

I think I've mentioned before that I'm on the Red Cross Disaster Action Team (DAT). Of course, I got a call asking if I would be willing to staff a shelter. So I've been waiting all day to see when and where I need to show up. I finally got word that it looks like we aren't opening a shelter tonight, after all.

And I had already cancelled my office appointments, completely clearing my calendar for tomorrow. Oh well, guess I will have to show up at the office anyway.

All my east coast peeps... stay safe!

Top: I forgot the brand because I cut the itchy label out, via Pip's in Corning, NY
Jacket: VanHeusen outlet
Pants: Lane Bryant
Necklace: farmer's market in Bath, NY
Earrings: Gold Mine in Bath, NY
Shoes:Nine West
Barrette: either Goody or Scuncii via CVS, I suspect

The Best Laid Plans

Lawdy, my Saturday went awry! I was 20 minutes late getting to the consignment shop, that my Junior League chapter owns and operates, for the annual spruce-up project. Within 30 minutes, I was sucking on my inhaler and calling it quits... we were cleaning up the basement, and I'm terribly allergic to dust!



I did buy a couple jackets while I was waiting to feel better so I could drive away, though. You will see them after I take them to the tailor!

Stopped by Squeaky's afterwards to let her feed me (she's a much better cook than I!) and to get my "baby fix". Baby still has a bit of anxiety, so I had to give her back a couple times. :( Squeaky and I then went to a craft fair to support a friend... and I bought a necklace. Which will be posted when I actually wear it.

I'm just Mrs. Spendy today!

I then went to Wally World (as my aunt calls Wal-Mart) to pick up a few finishing touches for Halloween, since Hubby and I were planning to go to the annual costume party at out hangout pub...

...which we didn't go to, after all. Hubby has an injury that has been bothering him worse than usual lately. He just wasn't up to it. And I don't feel like going alone in my half of our "couple costume". So we stayed home.

Silver lining: we are all set for next year's party!

Same jeans and earrings as Friday, the bandanna is one handed to me while doing something with the Red Cross some time back, and I wore Crocs. Yes... fashion-crime Crocs! Hey, I was supposed to be working....

Another CLE day

I actually wore jeans to the office! Of course, between taking Hubby to a specialist in the morning, then leaving at noon to head to Rochester for a CLE... I was only in the office for less than two hours on Friday.



We actually got out a little early from the class, and decided to check out a local museum. Where we met "Sue":



Well, actually a cast of Sue, the T-Rex. By the time the museum closed, we were starved. Good thing we already planned to go to a local rib place that everyone has recommended called "Sticky Lips":



OK, the meal wasn't THAT big... but I definitely join the endorsers. If you find yourself in Rochester, NY, try the Cheddar Chorizo Grits... I don't even like grits. But I LOVED those!

I have to admit, I'm a little ashamed that I didn't think of pairing this bracelet with this top before. The colors are perfect:



I grabbed these earrings on the fly because they wouldn't clash. But I'm liking the "world traveler" look they bring to the outfit. The pieces have different ethnic inspirations, but do pretty well together, I thought. Or am I deluded?



Went with my comfy shoes:



The only muscles exercised Friday were my lead foot and my jaw!

Top: Jacklyn Smith from Kmart via Freeda's purge pile
Jeans: Lane Bryant
Bracelet: gift from S-I-L
Earrings:
Shoes: Ariat via Sole Solutions in Spokane, WA

Photo Tricks... or Treating Myself

This one is a bit late, but the last couple days have been pretty busy for me. An almost universal part of women's lives is that we tend to do a lot for other people, and for work-- often neglecting ourselves. I try pretty hard to not fall into that trap! But I have been so busy over the last month that I've regained a bit of weight... ugh. Guess there is at least one way I need to STOP treating myself....

Anyway, here's Thursday's outfit:



I am so annoyed that the colors are not turning out accurately in that pic! The pinks in the top are actually a perfect tonal match for the jacket... you will just have to trust me on that. It was actually warmer over the last few days, so I'm getting in my "last wear" of my summer pretties before they get put away. And this top is one of my newer favorites:



I picked up a couple of pretties for myself at the farmer's market, because I simply couldn't resist. I did, at least, reduce my "wish pile" to two items. Here is one of them:



The pic of the bracelet is pretty good… except it doesn't come close to capturing the color. The green is yellower, with a lovely glow. So I played around with the Photoshop Express app on my phone to try to get to the actual color… it's closer, anyway:



I grabbed these from my existing stash to coordinate with the bracelet:



Everyone and their brother, when discussing where I had night court on Thursday night, suggested that I go to dinner at a certain lakeside restaurant. I decided to take the advice, treating myself to a glass of wine, apricot baked brie, and chocolate cake. I couldn't get a phone signal, or much internet access, so I had my dinner while reading "Great Expectations", which I already had downloaded onto my Kindle app. Then I went onto the balcony, then the dock, and relaxed by the nighttime water:



I find it funny that I needed to use photo effects to make this look something close to what I actually saw… I don't know why NONE of my Thursday photos had a decent depiction of color!

Same pants and shoes from Wednesday, not bothering with those pics today.

Top: via Stein Mart
Jacket: 600 West via Dunkleberger's in Stroudsburg, PA
Pants: Lane Bryant
Shoes: Trotters via DeGaetano Shoes in Hornell, NY
Earrings: gift from a friend
Bracelet: via farmer's market in Bath, NY

Balancing Precariously in Decay

My jacket is getting fuzzballs on it... not quite pills, but their cousin. I really need to take some time and a pair of nail scissors to it to smarten it up again. I'm trying to decide if it is good with this top, or if I should just stick with the pink/purple jacket when wearing this top. Your thoughts?



I love this top-- it's so floaty and fanciful. I don't want to clutter up this post with too much, but the link above shows the top better, also. But the front detail weigh the neckline go waaay down, which isn't such a good thing for work. My solution:



I think I'm going to redo these earrings... and a bunch of my other ones. I will get into that plan in a later post, I suppose.

 

My plain brown pants are getting a bit run-down... the butt-flaps tend to stick out, and previous effort to tack them down have met with failure. The outer seam on one leg has an inch-long split that I need to fix, and one of the butt-flap buttons has made off for parts unknown. I didn't take a photo of how it is today, but here's an old one of said butt-flaps:



I found a small hole in the lining of my right shoe, where my pinky toe hits. I need to get that looked at soon, before I wear a hole in the suede in that spot. I really like these, but the suede is so soft that I worry:



Time to take them to the cobbler....

I drive by this place almost every day, on my way to my office.  Look carefully on the upper right of the photo:



Every day that I drive by, I wonder why it has not fallen into the lake!

Made it to ballet class at the Y tonight... balancing precariously doesn't even begin to describe my abilities in that class. I look like a retarded epileptic elephant on a bender! But I still like it, even if I have to sit out the jumping parts.

Top: via Stein Mart
Jacket: Talbot's Petite
Pants: Lane Bryant
Shoes: Trotters via a now-defunct shoe store
Earrings: via farmer's market in Corning, NY

Double-header

I went to Tai Ji AND to Zumba tonight... yay me! But before gym time, here's me at work:



My hair dried really flat and weird today, because I had to head out with a wet head. Not that it made much difference, as it rained most of the day, anyway. You can see what I mean better:



*smh* I really like this jacket, but I don't get to wear it much. I bought it a few pounds ago, and I can really only wear it with a snug shell because it's a bit small to wear normal tops under it right now. So I broke out one that I can only use as a layering piece. It looks OK in the front... but the back:



Is best kept covered all day by the jacket... unless I'm sitting in my tall office chair. I hate my bra... it cost a freaking fortune, but it gives me "back boobs" that I never had before! This pic doesn't even show the worst of it! Oh well.... here's the accessories:



I thought I had a closeup pic of the chain stored in Photobucket. I was mistaken. The bracelet was the "focus accessory", so I thought it best to keep everything else simple. So, a simple silver chain and plain silver hoops:



Driving in the morning fog around here is actually pretty cool. I really like how the hills poke up through the fog line. There were better examples of this when I was driving, but I could only really pull over into a junk auction house parking lot for photos... for safety. But here's a hint of what I see:



While I was there, I spotted this treasure that I don't normally see from the road:



Just as I was pulling out to head in to the office, a man pulled into the lot. I immediately started cracking up! I  just had to turn around for a pic:



Have I mentioned that I live in a very odd place?

Top: Grace Dane Lewis via Goodwill
Jacket: VanHeusen outlet
Pants: Lane Bryant
Necklace: gift from my old roommate
Bracelet: gift from my secretary
Earrings: via Gold Mine in Bath, NY
Shoes: Ariat via Sole Solutions in Spokane, WA

Unprepared

I went to the office after dropping Stinky at school... sans makeup. I keep a kit in my desk, for those mornings (of which there are many, not gonna lie) when I don't have time to put on my face before I get to work. I always check my calendar on my phone to make sure I have a little "ramp-up" time in the morning for this, as well as to figure out what I should wear.

But since I called in sick on Friday, my Outlook calendar didn't sync with my Google one... so a client actually saw my nekkid face! But I didn't get a pic of that to post, thank goodness! But even with makeup, wasn't feeling very elegant today:



Oh! Just for fun, I also had a County Court appearance that must have been put on my calendar on Friday. As you can see, I didn't wear a jacket. I thought I just had office appointments and a Town Court appearance, and I don't believe that I need a jacket for those. Female attorneys here get away with murder as far as professional dressing goes. I'm pretty strict with myself, but less so for "local" courts.

What's the distinction in the courts I mentioned? Upstate New York is a very weird place... the court system is like something out of the Wild West! For criminal law, County Court is the place where felonies are disposed of, whether by felony plea or by trial. Towns are subdivisions of each County, and only some of the villages within certain towns have courts. The cities have courts, as well. City, Town, and Village Court Justices handle traffic tickets and dispose of misdemeanors.

All felony cases, unless they have been indicted by a Grand Jury, start in a "local court" (meaning City, Town, or Village). Here's the "Wild West" part of it: Town and Village Justices are NOT required to be attorneys. That's right... someone who has never stepped foot in law school (or college, or even finished high school in some cases) has the power to put people in JAIL!!!

The New York Times did an excellent article on this incredible outdated system a few years back.

Enough work crap... back to the important stuff! I'm thinking the necklace may have been a bit "much" for the outfit. But I haven't worn it in ages, I love it, so gave it a whirl with this top. Your thoughts? Here's a closer look:



I really like my black glass earring to complement the necklace:



So I tried a similar pop of color that was so popular in Thursday's post... but I'm thinking this one was just a little "off", but I can't place my finger on why:



Oh well... even with my lack of proper preparation for the day, and the fun with the court system here, I still find ways to chill out a bit. Since Hubby called in today, I was on my own for lunch. I often like to get drive-thru and park in this quiet little spot to listen to my audiobook and enjoy my lunch in blissful solitude:



The run-down abandoned rail station is somehow soothing to me. I don't know why, it just is....

No gym today... night court. I really need to go lift tomorrow, because I didn't eat properly on Sunday before lifting, and my performance was subpar!

Top: Style & Co. Woman from Macy's
Pants: Lane Bryant
Necklace: via JC Penney
Earrings: via Corning Museum of Glass
Shoes: Aerosoles

Mom Jeans

A tribute to my lovely jeans:



Yeah... I'm feeling sexay today:



I really *looove* these jeans... they are classic "mom jeans". The zipper is so high that they make my pooch appear even larger than it really is, they expand in the bottom after being worn for more than ten minutes, and the legs are gently tapered to suggest the appearance of an ice cream cone.

The designer of the top thoughtfully added a false underlayer, so I don't have to figure out for myself how to make absolutely certain to remove any hint of cleavage. Effort-free look!

And my *beloved* Crocs... what more is there to say about these beauties? [smell the sarcasm... take a good whiff!] So why am I especially decked out today?



Hubby and I took Stinky and his little sister (Hubby's Ex-wife's daughter) to the playground today. We climbed all over the mini-city playground. Bugalug was a pop star, and made us breakfast and gave us "time-outs" when we misbehaved... too funny! I love the mental workings you see in little kid "pretend" games. Hubby and Stinky "practiced" martial arts:



I think I've mentioned that I live in the northern Appalachians, right? A couple people asked for scenic shots, so I will try to slide some in from time to time. Unfortunately, I'm not using a good camera. Here is the view from the playground:



Top: Style & Co. from Macy's
Mom jeans: Venezia from Lane Bryant
Earrings: gift from a friend (not shown) They are the ones that look like a bunch of little green pebbles in a gold frame. They match the top.
Crocs. I can't really call them "shoes"